Into The Dark
by peterpauper
Summary: I stayed in the darkness with you. Sequel to Arms of The Ocean.
1. Author's Note

**Author's Note  
**

To all new and old readers,

Hello and thank you for coming to read my new fic.  
"Into Darkness" is intented to be a continuation of "The Arms of The Ocean" (a _Thor _fic). To all who have not read the prequel I encourage you to consider it if you wish to pursue this story. I sincerely hope you enjoy what is to come; please feel free to comment and review in an honest, constructive way as I appreciate any and all input.

Blessings,  
P.


	2. Preface

**Preface**

* * *

Time goes on in every world. It moves forward, leaving those who want to look back feeling an ever sinking loneliness, an ever growing loss, as the hole left behind opens further and further. Time is said to heal all wounds but that's a lie – they never stop hurting and the victim just gets better at dealing with the pain. That's all.

And then there are the festering wounds. The ones that bubble and ooze and seem like they will take life itself away…those are the best ones. Those are the ones that teach you what really matters, that teach you what true distortion and clarity are; they take you to that place of pain and hurt and suffering and they make you see and believe things that never even existed. And then you come back. Maybe. And maybe you come back.

000

_I took the stars from my eyes and then I made a map _  
_And knew that somehow I could find my way back _  
_Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too _  
_So I stayed in the darkness with you_

_(Florence and The Machine; Cosmic Love)  
_


	3. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1  
**

* * *

Night is a lonely time. Quiet. Still. Everyone goes home to their families, to their loved ones, to their worlds of comfort and respite. Well…mostly everyone. There are some who find that the darkness closes in; that it suffocates and brings to life old wounds – that it makes nightmares real.

Ava tried her best to exhaust herself during the day so she would have no choice but to enter a dreamless sleep but sometimes, more often than not, she would lie awake staring at her ceiling. She had taken on extra activities, so many that she now had very little spare time. Little time for friends and family…something she was thankful for. Her family looked at her in a way that said they knew she was hurting and alone but at least her father smiled when he saw her working hard. And her friends…Ava's friends…they were dispersed by rumour and gossip.

After so much had happened under Loki's brief reign people couldn't help but talk. They spoke of how the Bifrost was lost to them, how the Ice Giants got into Asgard, how the All Father fell into the Odin Sleep, how Thor nearly died on earth…and how through all of it Ava had loved the God of Mischief. They spoke of her as a conspirator in crimes that only existed in imagination. As a power hungry woman who was now grounded by the loss of her lover.

Some nights Ava wished she had drowned. That her mother had not come after her. Other nights she imagined Loki alive, imagined him somewhere unknown to them – some great world full of life. Somewhere he would want her to be. And she would smile at that.

Frigga often sent Thor to check on Ava and he often found her occupied in some activity or other. Artistic gymnastics, archery, equestrian, dance, hand to hand combat, duel blade combat, music, history, language, geography, astronomy…she was always busy. Always tired. Always nursing a bruise or two.

Often, on very quiet evenings, Thor knew he could find the young woman in his brother's room. Nothing had been moved in there. It even smelled the same as it always had. Ava would go and stand in the middle of the suite and look at the view of Asgard below.

"He was very lucky to have had someone who cared for him so much." Thor spoke as he stepped into the room.

The girl stood tall, looking as she had the first time they had met only with a face full of a different kind of hope. "When I'm here its like he never left. Like he's down the hall getting a book from the library or perhaps sitting quietly over there with a glass of wine, his feet bare and the summer wind warm."

The man inhaled quietly. "Do not make him a poison for your soul, Ava. You have to move on with your life. He would want you to move on."

"It hasn't been that long, Thor." Her voice was clipped. "There wasn't even a body. They held your welcoming home party above his funeral. But you all act as if he were some villain in a children's story."

"You sound like him now."

"No. But I see where he was coming from. If only I could have seen it before…"

Thor put his hand on Ava's shoulder. "No one could have anticipated what would happen. Do not blame yourself."

"I don't blame myself. I just look back and wish I had tried harder to…keep my promises to him."

"I don't think you understood the promise you were making. No one could expect you to keep that kind of pact." The man spoke lowly, he cared for the girl as a sister.

Ava turned to him. "No. No one could expect it. But you keep that kind of promise anyway because that's what love is – its keeping the promises and the truths that no one ever thought you'd be able to maintain, that no one ever thought possible."

"That isn't fair to anyone."

"Its not supposed to be." The young woman smiled softly. "You miss him too. I see it in you every day. You smile and laugh and fight and drink but there's always that empty chair. You are a brother to me, Thor – I would do much for you."

The God of Thunder laughed lowly. "Do not start caring for me when I am coming to try to check up on you."

"I might be sad and a bit angry, Thor but I'm still Ava." She petted his check good naturedly.

The man smiled knowingly. "Will you join our hunt in a few days time?"

"Of course. But please keep me from the ladies present – they still talk as if I were some she-devil set to destroy Asgard."

"She-devil? You? No." Thor said in a teasingly sarcastic tone.

Ava shook her head at him.

"Go to bed." Thor ushered the girl to the door. "You are working too hard."

"Yeah. Maybe." The young woman sighed and turned briefly back to the room. All his things were there. His clothes, his books, his sheets…it was too difficult to imagine him gone. It was a hopeful kind of desperation. Perhaps it was not too much to imagine him alive. Perhaps that was not too detrimental for the soul.

But it wouldn't have mattered. It was all she had left of him and it was all she could do to keep her promises.

000

Ava walked through the palace on her way home after a full and busy day. The sun was just starting to dip down and the light streamed in through the huge arches that adorned the corridor. The young woman paused and looked at the view, at the way the gold touched the mountains in the distance and glinted off the gold roof tops that adorned the city below.  
She loved the way Asgard's fields stretched all the way to the sea where they could, green clashing with the beach and disappearing into that clear, cool water. She loved the cliffs that reared up from the waves and the way people had built into them, carving marble terraces that seemed to float right above the ocean and were always covered in salt spray.

She loved her realm, its beauty and honour. But when her eyes drifted to the broken Bifrost Ava could feel no pride and could smile no more. The ends of the bridge were shattered and crumbling and watched over by Heimdall. The great Gate Keeper had often stood beside Ava as she looked into the void below. He would say nothing – unless Loki was in a deep, dark place he would be seen and heard and known of. Perhaps it was better to think him gone than to imagine him somewhere unseeable.

The young woman blinked at the sound of giggling and turned to see her old friends walking down the corridor. She smiled at them and sent out a warm greeting. The area became quiet and the girls glanced at each other cautiously before returning a kind reply and asking if Ava was coming to the hunt.

Kind replies, dutiful smiles, polite waves…that was all there ever was anymore. But maybe that was all it had been to begin with. We are not supposed to be alone; we are not designed that way. Loneliness eats at our soul, devours us if we let it. Its like sinking in a mire and you know that there are people all about with two arms and two legs who can save you but they don't. They don't because you probably wouldn't save them either.

Ava returned to her home and climbed into a hot bath. She lay there, letting her muscles unwind and settle, her mind listless and uneasy. Her fingers unconsciously ran over the ring on her hand. She'd never taken it off and never had any intention of it ever coming off. Eira wanted her daughter to become engaged to a good man, a kind man of her and her husband's choosing – someone she could be fond of. But fondness…was not enough. Not enough to be happy the way Ava had been happy. Not enough to love the way Ava had loved. Not enough to be hurt the way Ava had been hurt.

The girl dressed in her night clothes, joined her family for dinner, and retired to her room. She was tired. So tired. So endlessly tired.

At the hunt the next day she fell from her horse. They had been riding through the woods, Thor on her one side and Sif on her other. The conversation had been rolling around with the warriors – carrying here and there and never picked up by Ava. The young woman felt her limbs go light as air and heavy as lead all at the same time. She felt her head grow fuzzy and her chest sink in weariness.

When the heart, the head, and the body are exhausted there is only so much they can do to contribute to the soul.

The girl dropped at a walk. Just drifted over sideways and planted into the dirt. Thor's horse skittered nervously, its rider not taking a moment before dismounting. Ava slowly sat up, the God of Thunder's hand on her shoulders preventing her from standing.

He looked at her. Her soul was the same; still light and warm like summer. But it had grown harder, it had lost a fragment of gentleness. Never had Thor spoken of that night when Ava walked into the sea and tried to drown, but ever was it on his mind.

"Coming out today was a bad idea. I must get you home." He spoke evenly, like a father to a child, his hands passing her a skin of water.

"It was just the heat. I am fine." Ava wiped the dust from her shirt and looked for her horse.

"You are not fine."

"I am." Was the sharp reply.

"You are still the Ava I first met, you have not changed. But that girl is now weary and tired and needs to rest."

"I am not fighting a battle." Her tone softened. "This is no great battle."

"But it is." Thor spoke sincerely. "And you are fighting it alone."

"It is not your fight."

"Maybe not but I will not let you suffer for my brother's misdeeds any longer."

Sif and her Warriors Three ushered any other riders along quickly while Ava's horse stood quietly beside Volstagg's mount.

Ava exhaled. "Your brother was a good man."

"He was." Thor smiled sadly. "And he loved you. He loved you so much."

The young woman did not reply to that. She had loved him equally, greatly, eternally. She had promised to love him forever; until the sun rose in the west and set in the east, until the seas dried up, and the mountains blew in the wind as leaves. That was one promise she could keep. One she would keep.

* * *

_So this chapter was supposed to be posted yesterday…however the great flu had me struck down and unable to move let alone type. Sorry. _

_The second last line, as you know from the first story, is from Game of Thrones and all credit for it goes to George R. R. Martin (the author of A Song of Fire and Ice), David Benioff and D. B. Weiss (producers of the TV show) and HBO.  
__Also, to those who have read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green you might have noticed a shout out to this line from the book: __"Some people don't understand the promises they're making when they make them,"** "**Right, of course. But you keep the promise anyway. That's what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway." _

_That part of THiOS really hit me because its pretty much all that Ava will be feeling – a deep dedication to a promise that may be impossib__le to keep. _

_Anyway. Let me know what you thought! I hope you enjoyed this chapter; tell me what you thought of the length as future chapters will be a bit longer than this one._

Thank you for reading.  
P. 


	4. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2  
**

* * *

Just because the Bifrost was lost to them did not mean no news of earth came into Asgard. Heimdall saw much. Saw the humans and the Tesseract, saw them working with it, against it, through it. Humans who knew so little of the effects of power, who only dreamed of its positives and never imagined how wrong things could go – even for the best of people.

The people of Asgard knew of the Tesseract, of its power. And they had not sought openly to wield it; not for warmth, weaponry, or energy. But now, with the Bifrost gone, perhaps it was the only way to reconnect Asgard to the outside world – to the realms beyond. They were the realm eternal and they had been lost. Maybe there was a way back. And maybe the thought was just as dangerous as the humans trying to harness the Tesseract's energy to power the planet.

Ava flipped through a book on ancient weapons. Mjölnir was there, Balmung, a sword once wielded by Odin was mentioned too. Curiously, Cupid's Bow was also detailed in the pages. The bow of love, of fate, of passion - the one item that should, more than any other weapon, be contained in a book of destruction. Grand, beautiful, destruction.

The young woman closed the text and pulled another to herself from the pile sitting on her bed. They were books she had taken from Loki's room, words that would hopefully help her find him in his final moments. He was gone now but if she understood, if she just…knew how to be there. Maybe…

Ava ran her hand over her face. It was late. She had been told to stay in bed by her father and mother – both who had been informed of her fall from her horse on the hunt. The girl was exhausted. Listless. Desperate. Calm.

The door to Ava's room opened quietly and Erik stepped in, his hulking figure warm and fatherly. He smiled at his daughter as she sat in a blue silk robe with her white blonde hair tumbling down her back.

"You look better, Ava. You have some pink in your cheeks again."

The girl smiled and shook her head. "I still do not like this rest."

"You are not resting." The man sat on the end of her bed. "You are still making yourself busy, making yourself blind."

Ava glanced at her hands. "Father…"

"No, darling." He replied softly. "There is nothing you could have done. The time for mourning has passed. Come and be the elegant young woman I love. Come laugh at parties and ask me to buy ridiculously expensive dresses for you."

The girl tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Believe it or not, father…I am alright." She watched him purposefully. "I am not content, or relaxed, but I am determined."

"Determined to do what?"

"To know where he was going. Where he was taking himself in his final hours."

Erik sighed. "Ava…"

"No, father. It is important to me. I made promises that I never kept, the least I could do is follow up on their trails."

"Cold trails. You cannot comprehend another's mind. We are not supposed to."

"No. I don't mean to understand it all, I just mean to try."

The man looked out his daughter's window. "Ava, I think your mother and I have found a match for you. He is a good man, honest, hard working."

"I don't want a match made for me." Ava dismissed the idea.

"We want you to be happy, daughter." Eira's voice was quiet from the doorway. "We want you to move on, learn to love again."

"I know. But it isn't going to happen if I marry a stranger."

The older woman stood beside her daughter's bed. "It is your choice. Tell us if we can do anything."

Eira had not told Erik of their daughter's trip to the sea. It would break his heart into irreparable pieces. Ava's heart was not broken, it was longing and hopeful and sad.

"The first thing you can do for me" The girl looked up at her mother "Is stop looking for suitors." She smiled gently.

Eira nodded and pursed her lips. "You will leave many men heartbroken, child. You are too beautiful to stay single forever."

Ava did not reply. She didn't care if she was single, she just cared that she had loved greatly once. That she still did. She was still so in love with him, even with his temper and confusion – with everything that had made Loki himself. He had been a great man. A really great man. And he had loved her. It broke her heart to know it. He had loved her so much.

And still he had dropped into the abyss.

0.0.0

No. Her heart was not broken. It was in the process of collapsing. Collapsing into a vacuum that pulled every nerve inward, causing them to wither and die. They would grow back and the process would continue, on and on and on and she did not know how to stop it. She didn't know if she wanted to.

Maybe, if the process, the feeling stopped then he would too. He would really be gone. He would just…vanish. Forever. And that…that was much worse.

Ava thought about this as she lay winded on the floor of a training centre near that jutted out over the sea. Her coach stood above her with her arms crossed over her chest. The young woman had been practicing her hand to hand combat, had swung her leg up for a high kick and missed completely. She over balanced backward and planted right down.

"Where are you today?" The trainer quizzed. "Where is your head?"

Ava let out a frustrated sigh.

"You are fighting like a man today." The woman was old, wrinkled, tough, and strong. She retained her youthful elegance well and still moved about like a teenager. But from her mouth came the words of an old hag with a single view point. "You are a woman. Fight like a woman. Move like water, like a feline, like the wind. You are friends with Sif, yes?"

Ava nodded as she stood.

"Sif fights like a man. She will die like a man. There is nothing wrong with being a capable maiden – utilise what you have. Be fast, flexible, supple, and determined. And never hit someone who does not deserve it."

The young woman stretched her hands above her head before letting them drop loosely by her side. "Sif is a great warrior."

"Women are not warriors. They are assassins. Creatures of beauty, stealth, and deadly silence."

"I don't know how many women you have come in contact with, but few are silent."

The trainer laughed at Ava's quip. "Maybe so. But we are designed for it. Men are designed with muscle and power and we compliment them with our agility and elegance."

"And for those who are not elegant?"

"These seem like huge generalisations."

"They are." The trainer handed the girl a water skin with a smile. "Beginners must be generalised before they can truly master their individual styles."

Ava felt the not-so-subtle barb coming her way and brushed it aside. "So can a woman overcome a man?"

"No, but she can best him." The woman took the water away and indicated for her student to take up her drilling positions once more. "Do it again. And again. And again. Do it until you get it right."

Until you get it right. Was anything ever right? Truly? In her heart Ava wanted to believe that no one was ever really wrong, that no one could ever so wholeheartedly believe such darkness and venture into it as if it were light.

The young woman left her training session feeling sore and disgruntled. That trainer always left her sore and disgruntled. But she was moving along with her skills, becoming more fluid in her movements. Ava did not go home after the class as she usually did. The sun was still up and warm in it last few hours and the sand on the beach would be hot from spending the day baking and basking in the Asgardian summer.

Ava ventured to the sea and stripped down to her under garments. She ran her thumb over the back of her ring and stepped into the water. She had been just a child when she found the stone that had made the rings. Just a child playing in the sea.

The water was cool and lapped at the girl's legs, wrapping around them and climbing to her waist. Ava bent her knees and dropped her head under the water. It was not silent. There was a wet rolling noise, a salty noise, but it was peaceful. In a storm it would sound like stone cracking, like a raging fire, but now it was serene. The girl lifted her head up and pushed her hair back. She floated on her back in the water for a while.

Rarely could she find a moment of absolute peace. This was one of those rare moments. The water wound through her fingers, through her hair. It sank into her pores and for a minute Ava didn't have to think about anything, didn't have to do anything – she didn't have to be anyone.

And then she remembered that night she had walked into the sea. The night she had wanted to drown. Her stomach turned, but not with dread. It would be so easy to do it again. To do it right. Just exhale and sink down. Just join him, wherever he was. Go searching in the blackness. Venture into the abyss he had fallen into.

Find him. Smell the scent of him, feel the touch of his skin, taste him, let his warmth embrace her in its steady, comforting, enduring way. Ava was angry. So angry with him. So furious that he had dropped away when she would have been there for him, when he must have known that she would have been there for him.

She would have suffered through it all, through the aftermath. She would have loved him through it all. The fight they would have had about it if he had been around…it made her smile. It made her miss him so much she thought her chest would collapse in on itself.

Ava climbed out of the sea and into her clothes. They stuck to her skin and instantly absorbed the salty dampness of the water. Just as she was pulling her shoes on a horse and rider appeared on the beach above her.

It was Sif. She dismounted as soon as she saw Ava and walked onto the sand.

"I'm fine, Sif. I know I'm late back but I'm coming now."

"No. Its not that." The warrior said, her breath short. "Its about Loki."

The girl frowned briefly. "What about him?"

"That day he fell…our astronomers have been working and…there's something there. There's something beyond the nine realms."

"Something?"

"Something. A world maybe. It is possible, just a theory, that he went through a portal – something like what the Bifrost would have done – and ended up there."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ava started to walk up the beach. "Theories have nothing to do with it all."

"The Tesseract is…awake." Sif spoke flatly. "The humans haven't noticed yet but its awake. The moment it started to stir was the moment that place through the void became apparent."

"It doesn't have anything to do with Loki." Ava stopped walking and turned. "He died, Sif. He died. He fell through a whole in the universe and he's gone."

"And what if he isn't?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because the All Father wants to see you. He wants to know if Loki said anything, mentioned anything. We know he got the Jotuns into Asgard through a way other than the Bifrost – maybe there is a path out. A way to see what is happening. Maybe there was a way he survived because he knew something."

"Is this about Loki or the Tesseract?"

Sif suddenly understood Ava's hostility. "We all loved Loki, Ava."

"And none of you have cared about what happened to him until now." Was the reply.

Ava felt hazy. Confused. All this time she had hoped…dreamed that maybe…and now….she felt hurt and dazed and she didn't know what to make of it all. If he was alive that would make her exceptionally happy. Just knowing he was out there somewhere – actually knowing and not just thinking.

"If this theory is true…if Loki is alive…"

Sif put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Let us go to the All Father. We will know more then."

0.0.0

Few were assembled in the throne room. Frigga was there with her comforting smile, Thor had a concerned expression, and The Warriors Three stood still and silent. Odin watched them all from his seat.

Ava had gone home briefly to change and hurried to the meeting. The men who had studied the stars were there too, along with Heimdall. The great Gate Keeper was the one who had seen beyond – who had looked into the void and seen more than there was.

"Ava." Frigga stood beside the girl. "I am glad you came."

"I am glad I was invited." She replied. "What is going on? Why would they think Loki was…is alive from just this?"

"It is a new world. We are…grasping at hope."

"And the Tesseract?"

Frigga paused before leading Ava out of the room. "I do not want you to hear this from the men and their rough ways. You will need to speak of Loki in there soon but I will tell you of what they are saying now. Woman to woman. You knew Loki before he went. You knew he was desperate to show himself worthy. If there is one thing he thought he needed for that it is power. The Tesseract has unlimited power."

"So you suddenly link it to him? We don't know where he is. Heimdall has not seen him."

The Queen put a silent hand up. "I know its all a bit much."

"They are assuming that he…will do something with the Tesseract to get Odin's attention. Its not just a bit much – its just assuming the worst."

"And if it isn't the worst? If it's the truth?"

"Then we shall deal with it as truth and not as an assumption. I promised to always be there for him, in light and in darkness, and part of that is believing that he would do the right thing – that he would be good, that he would be the great man we all know he is."

Frigga smiled sadly. "He was very lucky to have you. I hope he knew it."

Ava opened her mouth to speak, paused, and met the Queen's eyes. "He let go though, didn't he?"

0.0.0

What could she tell them? That Loki had dreams? That he had wanted nothing more than to be a worthy son and when he found out he was not of Odin's blood it has broken something very deep inside of him? He thought himself a monster, a terror, someone bred by darkness and ice. Someone that was discarded in a temple and left to die.

And maybe time would have helped that. Maybe love would have helped that. But he didn't get the chance. Things happened so fast and he crumbled so quickly. He tried so hard, so very hard, and in the end he believed it wasn't enough to even earn Odin's respect.

The shadow of Thor was heavy and it was the only darkness Loki ever thought himself enveloped by.

He would have been great. He would have been loved. He was missed. Now maybe he was alive and that was like hearing he had died all over again. All those emotions, all that turmoil – it did not hit you gently. It flattened you like a great wave, crushing you and pinning you to the ground. There was no escape and no understanding until it had all eased away and you were left with little more than its destructive remnants.

And she loved him still. More and more with each memory. She would always loved him. Always. Even if he was gone, even if he had come back a different person. It was terrifying. But it was better to be scared in the light of hope than hopeless and alone in the dark.

* * *

_Longer chapter! Yay! Still not as long as I want them to be but I dont want to put something in one chapter that should be in the next so I hope you can forgive me for being a little withheld with the word limit.  
Let me know what you thought - good and bad. I appreciate every piece of input you give me._

Blessings,  
P. 


	5. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Secrets grow in the stillness, in the dark. They linger and no matter how honest their intentions may be, some secrets will always be sinister.

In the dead of the night a figure hurried through Asgard with a small chest full of gold coins. Hood up, feet soft, they moved silently up many flights of stairs and around a number of dark corners. They stepped into a small balcony near the very top of the palace, a balcony with a telescope and a view of the Bifrost, a balcony where the wind blew cold all year round.

Ava pushed her hood back when she saw the dark individual standing a few feet away, hands behind their back and face turned to the city.

"The Silver Girl." His voice was smooth in a way that inspired a total lack of trust. "You came."

"I nearly didn't." Ava's voice was guarded. "This could be considered treason."

"Yet here you are." The Dark Elf turned around. His name was Ralyn and he had been trapped in Asgard when the Bifrost was destroyed. He had been working with the men who studied the stars and the universe as a guest of the All Father. His knowledge was great and Ava had a sneaking suspicion that part of his presence had allowed Loki to bring the Jotun's into the city on Thor's coronation day.

"There are ways other than the Bifrost to get to earth, aren't there?"

Ralyn smiled, his teeth gleaming white. "You do not need to ask, your lover told you that there were ways. Paths through the dark." The elf stepped toward the girl and took her in carefully. "Your loyalty is admirable."

Ava had been approached by the Svartálfar after the meeting with the All Father about the Tesseract. He had told her of things, whispered ways and possibilities to Loki that made her stomach sink and her heart falter in her chest. But if he was alive, if he was on his way back…she would go into the darkest shadow for all of eternity just to find him again.

"You want to go back home. I cannot do that for you." Ava handed the chest of coins over. "I think you will find that your stay in Asgard will be very comfortable."

"And how long will this stay be? Odin spoke of retrieving the Tesseract. Will that take me home?"

The girl didn't reply. She knew Thor would go for the Tesseract; it was just a matter of time. Ralyn took the chest and opened it, his eyes searching its contents before sliding back up to the young woman.

"I'm doing a lot for you." He spoke in a low whisper and stepped around the young woman. The dark elf circled Ava silently, his fingers reaching out touch the ends of her hair. She clenched her jaw. "You might need to pay a higher price."

Ava had been saving her pocket money since she was a child. She wanted a horse first, then a very fancy closet, and then a house in the country. She could afford them all – her father had been very generous. And now it was in the hands of a man she would never trust.

"What do you want?"

The man faced her again. He took the young woman in. "A favour."

"What favour?" She followed him with her eyes. Stormy grey and growing frustrated.

"I don't know yet. I'll keep it in my back pocket. You will owe me something one day." He paused. "Do not worry – I will not ask for your body or your future children. Just one favour one day."

Ava didn't reply. She met the man's eyes. His grin grew because he knew she could not turn him down. "One condition." The grin faltered. "Loki must be in Asgard."

"Oooo." The elf thinned his eyes curiously. "A man thought to be dead, lost to the nine realms…" He tapped his chin with his finger. "I accept."

"You know something."

"Not all of dark space is…unknown to all." Ralyn stepped back. "Off you go, Silver Girl. You will come to me when news of the Tesseract surfaces."

"And then, one day, you will come to me." Was the smooth reply. "And perhaps I will have to add an extra price to our bargain, just as you have this night."

The elf glanced at his box of gold and then at the back of the young woman as she walked away. "Indeed. I expect you will."

0.0.0  
The young woman kept her calm down a few flights of stairs before planting her back against a wall and exhaling shakily. The little voice in her head kept asking 'what have you done?' and she kept replying to it 'what was necessary'.

Ava put her hand at the base of her throat and swallowed, her eyes shut for a brief moment. She shook her head and breathed. If anyone found out about her making a deal with a man from another realm, a deal to go find Loki…one that didn't include Thor or Odin or Frigga…they would assume things more sinister than she could imagine. People always assume the most sinister things when well intentioned people seek out desperate causes.

Ava nearly jumped out of her skin when a guard in a golden cape appeared out of nowhere and dropped to his knee.

"Heimdall requests your presence."

The young woman felt her heart falter. "How did you know where I was?"

"Heimdall sent me." The man rose.

That made more sense than anything else had that evening. Ava gathered herself. "Thank you."

Inside she swore. Had the Gatekeeper been watching her? Of course he had. He had probably been asked by the All Father himself to keep tabs on Loki's little lover. With the best intentions of course. Even so.

Ava made her way to the broken end of the Bifrost and drew her coat around herself against the evening. It was cooling down now, the air becoming fresh and sharp.

"The elf is a dangerous man. I would suggest you refrain from his company in the future." Heimdall stood with his sword point on the bridge and his eyes gazing out over the void. He turned to the young woman.

"You are a good man, Heimdall. I beg you not to tell the All Father or his son. This…is between Loki and me and" she closed her eyes briefly "if it is possible, if he is alive I must…" her voice faded away.

"It is my duty to inform Odin of all counts of treason." His voice was low and steady.

"It is not treason. It is…its love. Its loyal, unwavering, terrified love." Ava swallowed. "Heimdall, you see all and hear all and you will know if he is alive. So is he? Is he somewhere?"

The Gate Keeper turned to the girl and took her in. "He is on earth."

The young woman took a step back. "Earth? He is…" Wanting to know and actually knowing are two different things. The news hit Ava like a freight train. Like a great wind. "He's alive? Loki is alive?"

"Yes."

"And what is he doing? Is he well?"

"He has stolen the Tesseract and decimated a human research facility. Many died. Some were taken over by the power he wields."

Ava grew calm and she did not know why. "When did this happen?"

"Minutes ago."

"Does the All Father know yet?"

"I have summoned him to the throne room and must go now to meet him."

Ava paused. "Why did you tell me before him?"

"If I had told you after then you would have no alibi for being out, dressed in day clothes, in the dead of night." Heimdall lifted his sword and began to walk toward the palace.

The young woman hurried after him. "You will not tell him?"

"I am bound by my vows to tell the All Father about anything I have seen." There was a pause. "Should he ask about it."

The girl smiled smally. Heimdall knew more about humanity than anyone else; he had watched it for year and years and knew of its plight. While his code came first he knew that others were not so fortunate as to be bound by something so forthright. He knew life was messy.

Ava followed the man into the palace and to the throne room. Thor was just outside and stopped her just before the door.

"Ava?" He questioned. "What are you doing here?"

"I was with Heimdall on the Bifrost." This was not unusual. She was known to visit the bridge and stare out over the darkness for hours. Stare into it until she could believe herself blind for its endlessness.

"So you know?" Thor was dressed in full armour, Sif and her Warriors Three quickly appeared and entered the throne room.

Ava nodded. She felt her heart sink and lift all at the same time. "I know."

The God of Thunder glanced sideways to make sure they were alone. "He has…killed."

"We don't know that for sure yet."

"People died because of him."

"Maybe not directly. Lets…believe the best until we know otherwise. Believe that the light in him is still burning somewhere."

Thor paused. "The light in him burns here, in you. It is not with him."

"I am always with him." Was the quiet reply. "You tear yourself to pieces loving a person like I love him and they take bits of you with them wherever they go. I am always with him."

The blonde man smiled sadly and put his hand on her shoulder. "I hope he does not kill that light."

"He is your brother and he loves you. You must never forget that."

Thor nodded and led the way into the throne room. The walls were fully lit and the ruler of Asgard sat upon his high chair with a concerned expression. The one they had mourned was no longer dead. He was the prodigal son who did not seem to want to come home. All the might of Mjölnir could not have knocked more wind out of a group of people, nor delivered such a shock.Ava wanted to cry. She knew she would when she got to her room. Here she would stand tall and proud and ready. The All Father began preparations to send Thor to earth – there would only be enough power for one and everyone knew it. Sif and her Warriors wanted to go defend their friend, Frigga wanted to go to her son, and Ava…watched the dark elf in the corner as he stood with the other astronomers and spoke of ways to get Odin's first born into a different realm.

Rayln met the girl's eye and smiled. He caught her when everyone was leaving and whispered in her ear. "When Thor goes so will you."

"Make it so." Ava replied.

0.0.0

When she got back to her room the girl collapsed. She crumbled onto her bed and clutched a pillow to her chest. Her breathing hitched up, her heart pounded through her chest. Treason and hope all in one night. Treason and hope and truth.

He was alive. It didn't matter what state he was in. It didn't matter. She had promised to bring him back and she had been waiting in the dark for him to start breathing again.

Ava put her hand over her mouth. He was alive. His eyes, green as the summer sea saw the world, his heart beat within his chest in a rhythm she had locked away in her memory. The very news was traumatic.

The girl could not stay still. Her body ached with the need to get out there and find him. To hold him. To bring him home. She rose and went to her balcony, the pillow still clutched to her body. She saw the broken Bifrost, the place he had fallen from. She saw the fields they had gone riding through and the beaches they had walked on.

He was alive.

She had known for hours now but it was just sinking in. Sinking in as an arrow to its target. She grew afraid – would he still be the Loki she loved? Would he still smile at her little habits? Would he smell the same? She grew afraid of the darkness around her and of how much further into it she would have to venture to find him. To take his hand and lead him home again. He was so very far away and Ava knew that in her heart the distance covered more than miles.

Would he still love her? Would he still know her?

Her hands trembled. He was alive. She smiled. He was alive.

And she was going to find him.

0.0.0

It was merely days later when the young woman got a message over breakfast to prepare herself. Thor was leaving that evening; dark energy had been gathered in dangerous ways; methods that could crumble the edges of time had been used. There was a massive amount waiting. Waiting for the right moment to catapult Thor after his brother.

Ava glanced at her father who was busy devouring a plate of eggs and ham. She smiled at him. "I think I will stay home today."

The man paused. "Home?" She had not stayed home for a long time.

"Yes. I think…I need some time to myself."

"Of course." Erik smiled. "Of course, Ava. You deserve a good break."

Eira glanced at her daughter. "Are you feeling quite well?"

"I am tired."

The woman sighed in a relaxed, happy way. "Finally, my girl." Finally she had admitted that she was working too hard to forget and remember all at the same time. "I will message your teachers today."

"Thank you." Ava rose and put the napkin from her lap on her plate. She hesitated. "I love you both very much."

Erik beamed. "And we love you."

The girl nodded with a genuine smile and slipped out of the room. In her own suites she locked the door. She locked the door and went straight to her armour closet. Some of the pieces had to be remade after Laufey had crushed them. Ava's hand floated to her neck where the skin had been burned from his cold touch. The scars and pain were gone, healed with Asgardian medicines, but the memories of those times…

The armour was much the same; fitted black pants and tall leather boots, much the same as she wore when she rode, a black shirt with a high golden collar that continued down over the tops of her shoulders. Golden pieces had been fixed to the places between her ribs and her hip bones, pieces that met at the back and reached around her waist in an elegant winged style that only master blacksmiths could achieve.

Ava pulled the pieces on and reached into the back of the wardrobe for her knives. Twin blades, long and light, that affixed into a compartment in her quiver. The bow, her bow, still hung above her bed. The girl took it in her hands and ran her fingers over the fine craftsmanship. A pang of guilt hit her.

Her parents thought she was finally getting over this…thing. But she wasn't. She was chasing it avidly. Chasing it into the darkest places she could imagine.

The young woman fit her bow to her back along the quiver and knives. She walked out onto her balcony. The voice behind her did not come as a surprise. This man, with his ways into other worlds, would know of ways into people's lives. He made no sound, was seen by none, and then he appeared. It was eerie and too real to recognise.

"Ready then?" Raylin opened his hands, a box laid at his feet.

Ava exhaled sharply. "Will you get me to where Thor lands?"

"Of course." The dark elf knelt down and opened his box, inside lay dark orbs, books, and metal rods of varying sizes.

"Why have you not used this to take yourself home?"

"If I had…where would you be?" The grin was sinister and masked.

The young woman nodded.

"Thor has just been sent. In secret. They did not want you to know in case you tried to leap in after him."

Ava stared at the man and made no reply. Raylin removed a dark orb and handed it to her. It was cold, endlessly cold. "How does this work?"

"Odin is not the only one with dark energy." The elf pointed a metal rod over the balcony and stared down its length. "The God of Thunder was sent from the broken bridge. Sent into the sky to catch his brother as he flew."

"Flew?"

"In a human airplane. They will land elsewhere. We must wait for them to land."

Ava looked over Asgard. "How can I trust that you will put me down in the right place?"

"You cant." Was the laughed out reply. There was a silence and then a few drawn out words. "Wait for it…"

The young woman saw the dark point at the end of the Bifrost. A black opening, wide and gaping like a rip in the universe. Perhaps Raylin could see into it. Perhaps he knew where they would land. Maybe he had foresight, or maybe he had senses like Heimdall. Or maybe he had danced with the devil and obtained the power to send people across worlds. Ava did not know. But there were secret ways. There had always been secret ways; paths that others were blind to. Paths that only some saw.

And she would take them. Take the path while blind, deaf, and dumb. And she would find him.

Raylin touched the end of the rod he had been holding to the orb in Ava's hands. It was hot, hot enough to heat the black ball. The man still held the metal out to the black hole at the end of the Bifrost. It began to hum. The dark elf smiled. The orb began to tremble.

And then the world shot into brightness. Into a light so blinding Ava thought she would never see anything else. The ground moved from beneath her and she was hurled forward. It felt like the Bifrost and after a while it looked like the Bifrost.

And then, in the blink of an eye, Earth lay before her. Earth; a planet shrouded in darkness.

She would find him. And she would bring him home.

* * *

_I have been going through the news of Thor 2 and we know the Dark Elves will be present. If this story is to continue (and perhaps it will) then...well, I have lined up a few plans just in case. In relation to this story…what better to stir up trouble between allies than secret meetings and rumours of treason? _  
_Anyway. Let me know what you thought. I hope you are enjoying the story so far. :)_  
_Blessings, _  
P.


	6. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4  
**

* * *

The night was dark, clouds with remnants of lightening shivered high above. The air was full of the smell of snow and pine and rock. And in its midst were two brothers crashing into the earth. Two aliens. Two gods.

"Where is the Tesseract?" Thor dropped his brother on the edge of an outcrop and watched him

Through a pained groan mixed with laughter Loki replied. "I missed you too."

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?" The god of thunder's voice would have made many cower but his brother would not.

Loki started to rise from the ground, his body obviously sore from being so thrown so bluntly against the world he planned to over throw. "You should thank me. With the Bifrost gone how much dark energy did the All Father have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious earth." He spat his last three words out.

The blonde roughly hauled the other man to his feet and gripped him firmly by the neck. "I thought you dead." His tone was still rough, angry, and impatient.

"Did you mourn?" The indifferent tone held no fear but as ever Loki's eyes gave away a little of his soul. He wanted to know if they had loved him enough to miss him.

"We all did. Our father…"

Loki cut his elder brother off with a vehement brush of the hand as he released himself. "Your father. He did tell you my true parentage did he not?" The man strode away with his hand on his back and a grimace on his face.

"We were raised together, we played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?" Thor opened an arm in near desperation. This brother who he loved was almost a stranger.

Both of them were so involved in their own conversation that they did not see the stirring of dust or the shadow that stood silently behind against the stone edges, hiding in their shadow, watching the light of the human airplane twist to come for them.

"I remember a shadow." Loki turned to Thor, his tone changing, saddening, becoming true. "Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss – I who was and should be king."

Thor's tone changed too, his expression lost for his brother who was so lost in his own darkness. "So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights?" Loki seemed taken aback at this, but it did not stop the blonde from continuing, stating that he would have none of it, that the earth was under his protection.

The dark one laughed. "And you're doing a marvellous job at that. The humans slaughter each other in droves, while you ideally threat. I mean to rule them. And why should I not?"

"You think yourself above them." The blunt statement was made.

"Well…yes."

"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. The throne would suit you ill."

Loki hissed and pushed Thor aside so he could walk up to the place where they had landed, his voice rising as he did so. "I have seen worlds you've never known about! I've grown, Odinson, in my exile." he spat the his brother's title out bitterly. "I have seen the true power of the Tesseract and when I wield it…"

Thor cut him off with a concerned, forceful interruption. "Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be-king?"

"I am a king!" Loki twisted to yell in his brother's face.

"Not here!" Thor grabbed Loki by the shoulders and shook him. "You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!" He paused and took a breath as he took the man before him in. "You are missed, you are loved. Mother, father, our friends – they wait for you to return. Ava waits for you." Thor saw the pain his words had caused. "You come home, brother."

"I don't have it." Loki exhaled and shook his head as Thor withdrew angrily and brought his hammer to his hand. "You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off and I know not where."

"You listen well, brother." The blonde started to threaten. He opened his mouth to continue when he was knocked off the outcrop by a figure of metal and flame. The humans had come.

"I'm listening?" The prankster in Loki still lived. Still came out for a jesting jab though there was no audience to speak to.

There was a crash as Thor was thrown into the forest below. The man of metal stood over him in a dominant way and the god climbed to his feet. They exchanged words – The Asgardian wanted Loki to face the justice of their world, the human wanted the Tesseract and the man who had destroyed a military base and taken countless lives.

The God of Mischief watched from above and casually moved to sit so he could watch the men fight over him and his future, so he could watch his plan unfurl.

"I like your hair better when it's shorter." Loki froze, his eyes focusing on nothing and his whole mind on the voice. He turned.

Dressed in her armour she looked like an Asgardian, but her hair was still long and nearly white, still pinned off her face in that simple elegant way. Her skin still looked touched by summer and her eyes were still as grey as the storms rolling in over the sea. And she was calm, her expression searching his as it opened in shock.

"Ava…" Loki straightened and took a step toward her.

She closed the distance much quicker and drew her hand sharply across his face. The smack left her skin ringing. But soon after she drew him close and pressed her face into the curve of his neck.

"I thought you were dead." Her voice was soft and low. When she drew back he could see a tear rolling down her face.

Ava felt her throat closing and her heart racing all at the same time. She didn't know what she had felt but she hadn't expected her love for him to grow so much she thought she would burst. Her hands searched his face, ran over the dark circles below his eyes and over a mouth that hadn't smiled in much too long.

"You look tired." He also looked scared but only for a lingering moment. But not scared of her.

"I have been through much. Seen much. Grown."

"I heard you talking to Thor. I know that you think you're…different." Ava bit her lip quietly and took a deep breath. "Did you think about me while you were in these other worlds? Did you try to come home?" She searched his face. "Do you still love me as you did?"

Loki looked down and moved away from her touch. "It is not so simple."

"Then explain it to me." Ava glanced at the fight below them, at the man in the red and gold suit trying to take on Odin's son.

"I..." He looked at her. The desire to overthrow this earth was blinded by the memory of her asking if he would run away with her, run away and live in a house with a view of the sea, run away and have children and lives full of love and joy. And the darkness rushed back. "Why are you here?"

"Because I made a promise." Ava stepped to him in a determined way, her tone hardening. "And so did you." She looked him dead in the eye. "You made a promise to try and you haven't. You've waded into this darkness willingly, knowing I would follow."

He held her gaze. "You should have stayed in Asgard."

The young woman glanced sharply to the side before taking him in again. "I couldn't."

"You should have tried harder."

"After your…after everything happened and I thought I had lost you forever I went to that beach you took showed me. I still remember dancing with you there and just being so happy and excited and thankful for every moment that I got to spend with you. But after…I walked into the sea and prayed to drown." Loki's brow faltered, his lips parting briefly as she continued. "I walked into the water and I wished with everything that I could find you, wherever you were. You know that I would go beyond the edge of life to find you. I didn't even think about the fact that you had fallen, that you let go of everything without a fight, without at least holding onto us. I just…" she stopped.

Loki swallowed, his expression slammed shut. "You know what the problem with this whole relationship is?" He said. "You are blind – I do not need to be found or saved. I know power. I am a king."

"No, you know darkness and lies. And you're not a king. Not to anyone. Not even to me. You never had to be."

He clenched his jaw and turned from her.

Ava inhaled. "If you stopped destroying yourself with the idea that you're not Odin's favourite maybe you'd notice that you're my favourite, that you're Thor's favourite."

"Thor?" Loki laughed. "Thor came for the Tesseract, not for me."

"He loves you."

The man scoffed. A loud bang erupted above them as the God of Thunder and the metal man dragged themselves up the side of a cliff and threw themselves to earth again. Ava worried momentarily for Thor but without his fight she would not have the opportunity to speak, privately, to the man she had lost once already.

"Tell me one thing, Loki. Do you love me as you did?"

He faced her. Her honesty was still so pure and straightforward. He frowned in a worried way for the briefest of moments. "I do."

Ava felt herself calm. She searched his face as her hands found a gentle place on his neck, her thumbs against his jaw line and her fingertips in his hair. Ava kissed him sweetly as they had the first time. He still tasted as he had before, but he smelled different – older. "Then come home. Surely this is what you want – you do not want earth, you just want to come back to Asgard. Leave this planet, forget about it. I will stand by you. There are still those who love you, your mother and your father, your brother and your friends. They love you so much and none of them more than me."

Loki put a hand over hers. "I cannot."

Ava closed her eyes and drew away from him. "You know the power of the Tesseract. You learned it from somewhere, from someone. Who has polluted you? Who has made you believe your own lies?"

"It is no lie. I will rule the people of earth, I will bring them peace."

"If they wanted peace they would have it. If you wanted it you would come home. You want something else. You want power and responsibility and the chance to prove to Odin that you are worthy – that you aren't the boy who destroyed the Bifrost and nearly allowed him to be murdered in his own bed."

Loki hissed. "What would you know of what I plan? I have changed! Grown!"

"NO!" Ava turned to him. "You have not grown! You have not changed! You are still lost and scared and desperate!"

There was a massive explosion below. The earth shook and the air tore through them both. The young woman shielded her eyes from the blast and looked over the edge of the outcrop to see three men lying in a waste of trees and dust. She had been so absorbed by Loki that she had not noticed another coming.

"Did Thor bring you to convince me to come back?" Loki sounded offended by the idea.

"No." Ava watched him pace restlessly. "Thor doesn't know I'm here. The All Father did not send me after you – that was never his plan."

The man twisted his head. "Then how…"

"You brought the Jotuns into Asgard without Heimdall noticing once – you spoke of pathways that the Gatekeeper is blind to."

Loki paused, his expression becoming cautious. He stepped right up to her. "What have you done?"

"What was necessary." She replied, her brow coming together. "I did what I had to. I will do what I have to."

"Ava, how did you get here? Tell me." His tone was concerned.

"You do still care what happens to me. You still think me the girl you forced to bow before you?" Her words bit into him. "I am not that girl anymore."

"You are." He replied quietly in the only moment of true honesty she had seen in him yet. "You are still that girl, and I should have never done that to you. You're still the Ava I fell in love with, you're just a lot more stubborn than you used to be."

Ava let out a short sad laugh. "Am I going to have to venture further into this darkness for you?"

"Sadly yes."

"So be it."

The air around them stirred angrily and a bright light was planted on the ground where they stood. The airplane above them lowered and twisted so the back was facing them. It hovered as the back ramp opened and a woman with red hair short red hair stepped down.

She looked over the heads of the pair before her. "Who is this?"

The man of metal had just landed on the outcrop, his helmet opened to reveal a strong face. His voice was sarcastic, humoured, almost consistently. "I don't know." He stepped right up to Ava. "Blondie, who are you?"

"I am Ava of Asgard. I have come for Loki."

"You're a bit late. Point Break over here got here first. But we got to him before you so we get first dibs."

"I don't…" The young woman was cut off by a confused voice.

"Ava?" Thor stepped into view with a deep frown. "What are you doing here?"

"She's with you?" The metal man looked to the god. "Great. Can we expect more gods to drop from the sky or are you all that can make it?"

Thor ignored him. "How did you get here?" His eyes went to his brother. "What have you done?"

"He did nothing." Ava intervened. "I came on my own."

"You should be at home. You should in Asgard."

"Should I?"

The man in the blue armour stepped between their rising voices. "Wait, hold on. Why is she coming after Loki?"

"Ava is Loki's…" Thor's voice drifted off.

"Wife." The red head stated flatly.

"What?"

"Wife." She nodded at Ava's hand. "She's wearing a ring, he's wearing a ring."

The young woman looked at Loki. His expression was vacant, maybe angry, but he was indeed still wearing the black band that had been made for them.

"What do rings have to do with being married?" Thor questioned.

"You don't do that in Asgard?" The man in metal quipped. "Its like a thing here. Circle of eternity and love and all that."

Ava felt a bit like a child who had just been chastised. "We are not married."

The other woman pursed her lips. "So…what do we do with you?" She turned to Thor. "Is she on his side or ours?"

"I don't even know anymore." The god of thunder stepped past the woman and onto the plane.

0.0.0  
The Tesseract had awakened on a tiny little world full of human. Humans, the most soulful creatures in all the universe, and creatures that no one could ever take seriously – they were fragile and full of dreams and that made them look like children. A child can dream big…but they are still a child.

Ava found herself listening to the conversation between the red head, whose name had been revealed as Natasha, and someone on the other end of a radio.

"Bring her in." The stranger's voice spoke in a controlling but serene matter.

"Sir, we don't know anything about her."

"We don't know anything about any of them. Bring her in."

"Yes, sir." Natasha resumed her command over the small plane.

Thor sat with his elbows on his knee's and a perpetual scowl etched into his face. Steve Rodgers, the man many called "Captain America" appeared to be a little confused, while Tony Stark – AKA: Iron Man stood at the front of the craft and watched the world go by beneath them. Ava did not understand the nicknames. Even Natasha had one; they called her "Black Widow".

Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow…why the names? Were people not enough to stand behind?

Ava met Thor's eye and he exhaled angrily. "I am not happy with you."

"I can tell." She replied dully.

"What must your parents be thinking? They don't know where you are."

"Heimdall will know. And what does it matter? I am an adult. I can look after my own life."

"And you are doing a very good job. You have basically committed treason!" Loki was silent throughout this exchange. He watched and listened and otherwise remained a blank canvas.

"No, I'm trying to help. How is that treason?"

"You went behind Odin's back and cavorted with a power you don't understand!"

"And how did you end up banished to earth, Thor?" Was the sarcastic reply.

"Exactly!" He boomed. "Have you learned nothing from our past experiences?"

"I've learned that if you love something you'll do whatever it takes to protect it. You, who destroyed the Bifrost to guard this little planet and some little girl on it, should know that."

"Do not talk about Jane."

"Then do not talk as if you do not understand where I am coming from."

"Hey, hey." Steve intervened at his point, his hands raised. "Calm down. You can't change it now. She cant get back until you have the Tesseract so lets all focus on that first."

Thor rumbled angrily and glared at Ava.

Steve took this time to step back from the cockpit and into the conversation. "So, Blondie who are you really?"

Ava glanced up at him. "What do you want to know, Metal Man?"

Tony leant on the fuselage above her and examined her closely. "How old are you?"

The young woman smiled at the unusual question. "Older than you no doubt. We age better in Asgard."

"Yes you do." He glanced around as his mannerisms allowed before returning to her. "And how are you connected to Brothers Grim?"

"Our fathers are friends."

"And how did you fall in love with such a…dark fellow? I understand the attraction to a bad boy but isn't there a limit to how much sadism one can take?"

"He's…." Ava inhaled "not so bad."

She watched Loki, he lifted his head to look at her as she spoke. There was a softness in him that she recognised. He was hard and cold and isolated but deep inside there was still that gentle light. Perhaps she was the only one who could see it. Perhaps she was the only one in deep enough to be able to.

* * *

_Scenes from the movie contain dialog from the Avengers script and all ownership goes to Marvel and the makers and producers of the film.  
_

_I hope you're enjoying things so far. :)  
I've tried to reply to each of your reviews and if I've missed you I do apologise. If you're set to anonymous or guest then I cant actually reply but I really do appreciate the input very much. You've all been wonderfully supportive so far (please dont be afraid to be mean - I would rather know if something was wrong and fix it than not know and carry on doing it). _

_Hope you're all well.  
P.  
_


	7. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5  
**

* * *

Loki withdrew into himself. It was like watching a man turn to stone. The whole plane ride Ava wanted to go over to him, hit him, scream at him, kiss him – do something to stop whatever he was doing to himself. But instead she sat. Quietly. And waited.

She had expected them to land somewhere on earth but instead their craft climbed higher and higher through the clouds. The young woman stared out the front window as they approached an enormous vessel that was nearly invisible in the sky. It was phenomenally huge – such a thing…Ava had not realised that humans had this sort of technology, that they had the ability to make castles fly.

Parts of the main deck were lit up and in them stood groups of armoured men holding human weapons. With them was a man the same colour as Heimdall with a patch over his eye like Odin, though not quite so glorious as either it was conceivable that he could command the same power.

Their plane, now a tiny insect on the face of the floating fortress, landed and grew quiet. Natasha stood up and made her way to the opening back ramp of the craft. She climbed out and approached the man who joined her in returning to the plane.

"I see we have some stowaways." He started in a strong, slightly lilting voice. "I don't like stowaways."

"I do not believe we have met." Thor approached the man and offered his hand. "I am Thor Odinson, of Asgard."

"I know who you are." He replied. "You're the kind of stowaway I can use. Not so sure about the other one though."

"She's been rather cooperative, sir." Steve Rodgers stepped up. Ava remained seated and listened, her eyes constantly on Loki. He was listening too, a small smile playing at his mouth. It was unnerving.

"So far." He added. The man stepped in and stood in front of Ava. "Young lady, I am Director Fury and I have a few questions." He glanced at Loki. "More than I have for him." Fury turned to the man who seemed to be such a willing captive and allowed his voice to become touched with a threatening tone. "So, Loki of Asgard, where can I find the Tesseract?"

Loki smiled. "I have absolutely no idea, Mr Fury." He said the name's name in a condescending tone.

"We'll see." The Director nodded to some men outside the plane. One climbed on board and unstrapped the Asgardian from his seat and led him into the middle of a formidable formation of armed men.

Fury glanced at Ava. "Will we need an armed escort for you too?"

The young woman met his eye. "No, sir. I think you'll find that I am exceptionally disinterested in this fight for the Tesseract."

"Oh?"

"I just want to take Loki home. I want to know what happened to him."

He nodded. "Well, good luck with that."

0.0.0

Ava had never really felt awkward around other people before. Not until she climbed into that ship where no one knew if she was good or bad. The whole fortress hummed and rode smoothly through the clouds.

Natasha Romanov led the blonde through the hallways with their glass walls and their state of the art scientific facilities. Thor had been taken with Nick Fury but it seemed that Ava had to go through some sort of security before they allowed her anywhere near anything. They had already confiscated her weapons.

"You okay, Banner?" Natasha paused at an open door.

"I'm fine, Natasha." He paused awkwardly. "So that was Loki, was it? He doesn't look so formidable."

"Yeah, and that's the weirdest part of all."

Banner pointed his glasses at the woman. "Yes it is." Another awkward pause. He looked to Ava. "Sorry, I'm being rude. You must be Ava."

The young woman nodded.

"Well…" He seemed uncomfortable with her silence. "Its nice to meet you."

"And you." She replied.

Natasha indicated for the girl to continue on. They moved into a room with a giant window that overlooked the night below. There was a single table and two chairs placed inside. The red head closed the door and stepped toward the table while Ava wandered to the window.

"You need to know if I'm going to blow anything up, don't you?" The Asgardian spoke gently.

"We need to know whose side you're on. Once we know that I don't think you'll get a chance to blow anything up."

"I just want to take Loki home." Ava turned around. "This isn't him at all. I hate that this is the person you're seeing because its not…him."

"Then who is it?" Natasha pursed her already bee stung lips as she waited for a reply.

"I don't know." The blonde twisted her head so she could see the clouds below them. "But he is in there. Somewhere." She exhaled. "I do not want to cause trouble or anything – I just want him to come out of this darkness."

"And if that means you have to take a side? Cause trouble?"

"Then I will do what I have to."

Natasha nodded. "Then you need to understand one thing; if you do anything to put this mission or its people in jeopardy you will have to answer to me. To S.H.I.E.L.D."

Ava turned her back to the woman. "You do not need to threaten me."

"We don't know that yet."

"My priority is Loki."

"You really love him, don't you?"

Ava swallowed. "I do."

"How did you meet?"

"At a party. My mother wanted me to fall in love with Thor."

"It never works out like our mother's want it to, does it?"

"No." The young woman turned around. "And this wont either."

"I don't know what you mean." Natasha stood tall and proud and human.

Ava gave her a knowing look. "This is an interrogation and you are very good at it. But we are both women who have lived in the shadows and I think we understand more about each other than we realise. Just as me outright if you want to know something."

The red head nodded. "Alright. I will." She paused. "How far are you willing to go for Loki?"

"As far as I have to."

"And how do you feel about him being held prisoner here?"

"If this is what it takes then so be it but know he is a prisoner to something else already….and that he wants to be here."

"Why?"

"I do not know. It has been a long time since I saw him last."

"Will he tell us where the Tesseract is?"

"No. He does not know where it is. I believe that."

"Then what does he want?"

"Something else, I don't know what. The location of the Tesseract has nothing to do with why he wants to be here."

Why he wants to be here. He wanted to be prisoner. He wanted to lose. To fall. To be bound up and possibly even tortured. He wanted something here, something he could not obtain in freedom or captivity. This was a plan. This was part of the darkness that was consuming him.

It was like hearing about him falling into the void again only this time Ava could see it; see very painful moment in devastating clarity. She would go in after him if she had to. And she would hold his hand. And she would find him again.

"From the sounds of it you don't owe Loki anything, nor Thor. You don't have to be here to do this." Natasha stepped up beside Ava.

"Maybe not."

"Then why are you here?"

She looked up and the human was taken aback by the honesty in her eyes, by the dedication that came from them. "Because I just cannot let him down."

"He's let you down."

"Does that mean I should do it back to him?" Ava took a shallow breath. "No. He needs me and I want to need him. Have you ever been in love, Natasha?"

"That's a bit personal."

"It's all a bit personal, but that is why we go where we go and do what we do, is it not?"

The red head glanced at Ava and then back out the window at the world below. "I suppose it is."

0.0.0

The Asgardians were invited to the meeting that allowed the group assembled to retrieve the Tesseract to become introduced to Loki. The introduction was little more than a monitor with the captive on it. A captive in a glass case.

Ava felt uncomfortable watching with a group of strangers present. Thor was there and that was some comfort, and she had begun to warm to Natasha, but the others…Tony was not present, possibly because he and Steve seemed to clash; their differences and perspectives were on just the right angle for arguments. Bruce was nervous. Constantly. And Ava had no idea why.

Everyone seemed uncomfortable with her – they knew Thor had earth's best interests at heart; loved their planet and one on it. He was invested. They didn't know anything about her except that she and Loki had something between them. It was disconcerting – the atmosphere was tense and she felt everyone watching her.

The young woman started to pay attention to Fury's voice over the monitors.

"30,000 feet straight down in a steel trap, you get how that works?" He was talking about the cell they had Loki in. His hands motioned to Loki and then at the controls for the release on the cell. "Ant. Boot." The threat was clear enough.

Loki started to laugh. "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Was the firm reply.

The man maintained a sinister grin. "Oh, I've heard. A mindless beast makes plays to the man."

Ava's brow knit together for a moment as she saw Natasha look up at Bruce. It was a look that one gives to comfort someone when something terrible has been said about them. Bruce Banner, a mindless beast? Tony had his metal suit, Steve was obviously augmented in some way, Thor was a god, and Bruce…was a monster. Ava looked over those working to keep the fortress flying – the teams of people that surrounded them and continued to diligently do their jobs.

Thor met Ava's eye as she glanced around. He was sad and pensive. The young woman stepped beside him and put a hand on his arm. He forced a smile and she dropped her touch and continued to listen and watch.

"How desperate are you?" Loki spoke in a humoured voice. "You call on such lost creatures to defend you."

"How desperate am I?" Fury always sounded like he was in charge. Like he could kill you in a moment if he wanted to. "You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you cant hope to control, you talk about peace, and you kill because its fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

Loki exhaled mockingly. "It _burns_ you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power. Unlimited power." He looked right into the camera monitoring him – he knew they were watching. He knew he was talking to them all. "And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share?"

Fury paused for a moment, undeterred. "Well let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or something." He walked out leaving Loki to stare at nothing but those watching him. The cameras were quickly cut.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce said in his nervous, fidgety way.

Steve sat casually. "Loki's going to drag this out. So…Thor, what's his play?"

"He has an army. The Chitauri. They are not of Asgard or any world known to us. He means to lead them against your people and they will win him the earth, in return for the Tesseract."

"An army…from outer space." Steve was not convinced.

"They're building another portal." Banner added. "That's what they need Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" The god of thunder frowned.

"He's an astrophysicist."

"He's a friend." Thor was notably concerned.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell along with one of ours." Natasha seemed uncomfortable with the last part of her sentence.

"I want to know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here." Steve diverted back to business.

Banner piqued up again. "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki- that guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you can smell crazy on him."

Thor was watching Ava and saw how these words affected her. They hurt him too. "Have care how you speak; Loki is beyond reason but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."

"He killed 80 people in 2 days." Natasha spoke flatly.

Thor paused. "He's…adopted."

Ava decided now was the time to step up to the plate. "He is not crazy nor is he beyond reason. I have spoken to him – there is more to this than we know."

"Then tell us. What can we expect from him?" Steve was relaxed, in control.

"I don't know. I couldn't tell you. He's very lost right now and he might take any turn he can to find his way out again."

"What does he want from earth?"

Ava hesitated. "Its...it is about power. He's always wanted to prove himself, to show that he is better than Thor in some way."

"So this is a child breaking another's toy because they're the youngest?" Natasha was not amused.

"No. Its more complicated than that."

"Can you reason with him?" Steve added.

The young woman paused. "I can try."

Bruce was quick to change the topic from personal to functional. "I think its about the mechanics. Iridium. What do they need Iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent." Tony Stark's voice dominated the room. He was walking with a man in a suit, whispering to him in what must have been the tail end of an earlier conversation. "He needs it so the portal wont collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." The man strode into the room and past Thor, petting him on the arm in a friendly way as he passed. "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing."

Thor did not understand this at all.

"Also" Tony continued "it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants." He mumbled a few things and the workers around him glanced up in anticipation. "That man is playing Gallaga! He thought we wouldn't notice but we did."

Ava was starting to realise that, brilliant as Stark was, he was also easily distracted. This was proved by how he covered his eye with one hand and asked Maria Hill, the Director's assistant, how he saw the screens.

"He turns." She replied in a non committal manner.

"Sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily; the major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density – something to kick start the cube." And just like that he was right back on topic, even though he was curiously pushing buttons like an eager boy. Maybe there was a method to his madness – there had to be if he was as successful as he seemed.

"When did you become an expert in thermo-nuclear astrophysics?" Maria asked.

"Last night. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

Steve was obviously a bit annoyed by Tony's consistent fidgeting. "Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?"

Bruce replied in more scientific jargon that Ava could not understand, but Stark was obviously very enthused by the other man's knowledge. They went back and forth together for a bit while the others shifted in their chairs in a state of total mental blankness.

"Finally. Someone who speaks English." Tony warmly greeted Bruce. "Its good to meet you, Dr Banner. Your work on anti electron collisions is unparalleled…and I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

Ava lifted an eyebrow at this. Bruce did not laugh it away. He just replied "Uhh…thanks." And became more awkward.

"Dr Banner is only here to track the cube." And just like that Nick Fury took complete control of the room. "I was hoping you might join him."

Obviously still wanting to be a productive part of where the conversation had headed Steve suggested that they start with Loki's staff. "It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a hydro weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube." Fury was eager to get them going. "And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his own personal flying monkeys."

Ava opened her mouth to ask what monkeys were but Thor got there first. "Monkeys. I do not understand…"  
"I do!" Steve pointed excitedly. "I understood that reference."

Tony rolled his eye and turned to Bruce. "Shall we play, Doctor?"

"Right this way."

They left the room. Ava stood awkwardly by Thor. She felt like a little girl on her first day at school. Steve was the guy who desperately wanted to do well but obviously missed some of the required curriculum, Tony and Bruce were equally as enthusiastic but knew what they were doing, and Natasha…was there to sail on through to whatever was on the other side.

The Asgardians stood out blatantly and were lost as to how to contribute.

Thor put his hands on Ava's shoulders and turned her to face him. "I was harsh with you earlier and I apologise for that. But you must not let Loki get to you – lets focus on the Tesseract. Once we have that we can get him home."

The young woman nodded. "Okay."

"Okay?"

She confirmed the nod with a small smile. "Okay."

"Good girl." Thor smiled and pinched her chin as a brother would to his sister. "Don't become like him in your quest to bring him home."

The god of thunder was pulled aside the man in the suit that Tony had been talking to earlier.

"Coulson." Thor spoke warmly.

"I have an update for you on Jane if you want to see it?"

"Of course. Thank you." Thor petted Ava on the arm as he stepped away to a console with the man.

The young woman took a cautious seat at the table Steve had just left. She didn't know what to do with herself so she just sat. If she could have been with her mind in private she would have done that; her head was reeling. All these new people, this new environment, the way things were progressing…

"You say Loki doesn't know where the Tesseract is. I don't believe that."

Ava looked up at Fury. "Why?"

"I think he has a motive and he intends for us to waste as much time as possible questioning him." The man sat down beside the girl. "Does that sound about right?"

"I think he will go to any length to obtain power and respect and recognition."

"He has the latter in abundance."

The girl looked at her hands. "What are you going to do to him?"

"Whatever it takes."

Ava felt her heart sink. "Please do not hurt him."

Fury's expression was compassionate. He saw how much she loved Loki. How he must have been something else once. His face hardened again. There was another possibility; either Loki had been someone who could be loved, or Ava was just as lost as he was.

"What do you suggest?" The Director asked.

"Talk to him. Let me listen. I know him; I know when he's saying something when he isn't saying anything at all."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I used to be." The young woman nodded. "Please let me try. The sooner this is all over the sooner we can return to Asgard."

"And then what?" Fury watched her face intensely.

"And then…" Ava paused. "And then we deal with whatever happens there."

"We?"

She nodded.

Fury stood so he could observe Thor and ask him how to deal with his brother. "I hope he loves you as much as you love him."

"I hope so too." She replied.

Ava remember vividly what it felt like to drown. She remembered the sudden peace that came when your body accepted it and just let you drift to your grave. This experience was fast becoming the moment before that; the terrifying, painful, airless, fighting moment.

The young woman noticed a couple of the workers glancing over at her. She swallowed and clenched her jaw. Maybe she should find Tony and Bruce and try to help them. But she knew she wouldn't be able to help them and that her presence might be noted as suspicious. She could go with Thor but he would be in deep with Fury making plans about what to do with Loki. Natasha…they might have got off on the right foot but there was no trust there.

The man in the suit sat beside the young woman. He had obviously finished with Thor. "Are you okay?"

Ava nearly started. The unexpected company was a surprise. "Yes." She smiled. The expression crumbled under man's gaze. He was humble and honest and kind and the young woman knew instantly that these traits to be truer in him than in any other man she had ever met before. "No…I'm not really alright."

"I don't know whose side you're on or anything but I do know you came all this way for one man. That says something about you. Something good."

Ava smiled. "I'm sorry but I do not know your name."

"Coulson. Well…Agent Coulson."

"Your first name is 'Agent?'"

The man laughed. "No. It's a title. Just call me Coulson."

The girl nodded and smiled. "If that is what you wish."

"And you're Ava?"

"Yes I am." She liked this man. He obviously had no agenda coming to her. He was that guy who saw a lonely kid on the playground and decided to share a sandwich with them. "You knew Thor?"

"I did. I was present last time Loki's vengeance followed him here."

The girl nodded. "It was a bit worse back in Asgard."

"Was it?"

"A whole town was not levelled but…that was when he started to really go. It was like watching a building fall over and knowing you could do nothing to stop it. You could get in the way and try to hold it up but it wouldn't matter – things had already started moving and nothing could halt them. It was…devastating."

"I am sure. What did you do?"

"I tried. I made promises to Loki and I did my best to keep them but…." Ava inhaled. "I don't know why I am telling you this." She smiled.

"I don't mind." Coulson returned the smile. "I had a few moments free."

"You're not using them to talk to the other people on the ship? Surely you have something to do?"

"I was on my way to get Steve to sign my Captain America trading cards but I've got a while."

"Captain America?"

"You haven't heard of Captain America?" Coulson's face lit up.

"I have not." Ava smiled. "Please, tell me. And if you have the time please tell me about the others because I'm very lost."

Coulson ran out of time before he even got to finish talking about Steve Rodgers but Ava was hugely appreciative of his time. Humans were curious beings, curious and tentative and slow to trust. But they were all different and all very special in their own ways.

Earth had many formidable opponents and many individuals who would be very missed should they ever fall

Everyone falls. Some sooner than others. Ava wondered how far Loki was into his plummet, how close she was in her leap after him. Her heart was quick to return to its lost anxiety, her head quick to grow back into sadness and worry. She inhaled slowly and closed her eyes. And then she pretended she was drowning.

* * *

_I had actually included the "mewling quim" scene in here but I felt it fit better with the climax of the next chapter…you know…the big ass fight and Bruce going all Hulk in a confined space…Things are going to speed up quite fast from this point on. I apologise if things have been moving slowly for you. I also apologise for the flaws in the past chapter - I have taken all your reviews and suggestion into consideration and tried my best to reduce confusion in dialogue, improve grammar and punctuation, post faster, and allow for a smoother transition into the next chapter. I probably didnt get it all right but feel free to let me know what else you want to see done/improved.  
_

_I hope you're enjoying things so far. All the quotes and conversations from the film belong to Marvel and the makers of Avengers and in no way shape or form belong to me.  
_

_Blessings,  
P.  
_


	8. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Without pain there can be no courage; but with courage comes pain – it was a vicious cycle, so much so that it became a lifestyle. And then you died. Ava was told that she would be informed when a decision had been made on how to interrogate Loki. It made her nervous knowing that he was to be questioned, possibly tortured, in the pursuit of this Tesseract, this little blue cube of unlimited power. He didn't want power. Not the Loki she knew. He just wanted to be loved, accepted, and respected; he just thought obtaining power was the way to all those things.

The young woman walked through the ship; camera's following her wherever she went. Ava walked the way she had been brought in from, her eyes searching for her weapons. They lay on the table in the room Natasha had brought her into. It was locked. The girl wiggled the door handle and stared through the floor to ceiling glass. That bow was precious to her. It had been a gift and it was one of the most beautiful weapons she had ever seen.

"Oh. Hey, Blondie." The permanently humoured tone of Tony Stark caught Ava off guard. "Your stuff in there?" He spoke through half a mouthful of something from a silver bag. "Cranberry?" He held the bag aloft.

"No thank you." Ava replied politely. "I know they don't want me armed but that bow is very special."

"Yeah? Tell you what; if you're a good girl then I'll make sure you get it back."

The young woman smiled. He was like an uncle.

"You are a good guy, right?" He indicated for her to walk with him. "I mean…the good guy side is great. Except for Steve but he spent a lot of time as a Cap-sicle."

"A what?" Ava blinked.

Tony glanced at her in a non committal manner. "He was frozen in ice for a while."

"A while?"

"He's like 70 something."

The young woman nodded. "You have a lot of strange people on your team. An old soldier, a man who can turn into a beast, Natasha, you…"

"How is Natasha strange? Besides the master assassin thing?"

"I thought she was just a good interrogator." Ava frowned.

"Oh. Then forget I said that." Tony pushed a door open into a large, sterile room that was filled to the brim with monitors. Loki's staff lay on a pedestal and was being scanned by Bruce Banner.

"Is she allowed in here?" Bruce glanced over his glasses and asked honestly, as if he were concerned that she would get in trouble.

Tony shrugged. "She might help with Loki's staff." The man turned to Ava. "So, Blondie. Your psychotic boyfriend ever tell you about glowing blue magic voodoo?"

The young woman opened her mouth to say that Loki was not psychotic but stopped herself. "He's a good man."

"He was a good man." Stark pointed at her. "Now he's cracked. Or is on crack. Doesn't matter – we need to know about the stick."

"He never said anything to me. I do not think he even knew about the Tesseract until…after."

Banner took his glasses off and looked at the young woman. "What happened to Loki?" He paused. "If you're okay to talk about it."

Ava glanced at the window briefly. "He, um, he just…stopped being able to see who he was anymore. All he could see was what he wanted, who he wanted to be. He started to lie to himself."

"Do you think he is lying about not knowing where the Tesseract is?"

"No."

Tony peered at the girl. "Do you think he'll tell us his plan?"

"I doubt it." Ava smiled vaguely. "He's rather stubborn."

Stark laughed. "Stubborn is not the word I would use. Maybe compulsive? Deluded?" The man started to continue but was stopped by a look from Bruce. "Sorry." He didn't sound it.

"Tell us about him before whatever happened. It might give us some insight." Banner was polite and kind and a gentleman. Ava warmed to him. She did not trust Tony but that might be because he didn't trust anyone himself.

"He was good and honest and a prankster. He was loyal too, and very much desiring of Odin's affection. He lived in Thor's shadow and was a great sorcerer. Loki is smart and loving and when you get into his heart he can't close the door on you. I've seen that in him. He will try and try and try but something always gets through. It's the only reason I'm here – to get through and bring him back."

Bruce smiled warmly. "He's lucky to have you."

"Or you're crazy." Tony walked past and petted her shoulder. "I'm kidding. You're a good girl, Ava."

"Ava." Natasha's voice echoed through the door way.

The young woman turned around. When she met the eye of the assassin she knew that it was time to make Loki talk. "What are you going to do?"

"Come."

The girl left the room quickly and walked with the red head.

"I'm going to talk to him. He must not know you are present, but I want you there. You can…deal with the aftermath."

"Are you going to hurt him?" Ava stopped Natasha. "Or…me?"

The other woman did not seem taken aback by this question, only sympathetic. They could have used her to get to him, and maybe they would if it came to it, but she knew that and that made things a bit…harder to do. "No. I'm just going to talk."

Ava nodded. "And how do I get in without him noticing me?"

"You will go in the door opposite mine after I have started talking to him. Stay quiet and just listen. You must not interject or say anything. You will only be present because you know him in a way no one else does and maybe you'll pick up on something. The cameras wont give you the right angle to see that kind of small detail." Natasha paused. "Can you do it?"

"I can." The young woman felt her heart racing nervously.

"You must not say or do anything. Just wait."

Ava nodded.

"Can we trust you?"

The young woman met Natasha's eye. "Can I trust you?"

The red head pursed her lips and exhaled slowly as she turned and mumbled under her breath. "Fury is going to be pissed if anything bad happens."

Natasha knew how to do her job. She knew how to make people talk without realising that they were divulging secrets. She could tear into a person's mind and see inside before they had even realised she was present. Ava knew this was the way to go with Loki. He would not give into pain. She didn't even know if he would give into her pain anymore. No; they needed to get him talking.

And she was terrified of what he might say.

0.0.0

Ava stood in front of a door and waited. There was a small monitor beside it that showed Loki pacing back and forth inside his cage. He was waiting for them, for whatever they had for him. He seemed…nervous.  
The man stopped and turned slowly, a wicked smile growing on his face. "There's not many people who can sneak up on me."

Natasha stood in front of his cell. "You knew I would come."

"After. After whatever tortures Fury could concoct you would appear as a friend, as a balm…and I would cooperate."

"I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton."

Ava frowned. She did not know who Barton was and had assumed that the Tesseract would be discussed directly.

"I'd say I've expanded his mind." As soon as Loki said that the young woman knew that Barton was one of his slaves. One of those he had turned to his control with the power given to him.  
Natasha began to walk up to the cell. Ava's door slid open silently and she stepped through it, listening carefully to what was being said. "Once you've won, once you're King of the Mountain, what happens to his mind?"

"Is this love, Agent Romanov?" Loki spoke in a degrading tone.

The red head was frank. "Love is for children. I owe him a debt."

Ava almost felt hurt at that. Her words were too close to home, too much of a turn toward what she thought Loki felt for the young Asgardian woman that stood like a ghost on the opposite side of the room. But this was also personal to Natasha. You could see it in her. She wanted to know about Barton more than she wanted to know about the Tesseract.

Loki stepped back toward the flat bed that was welded into his cell. He turned to sit and Ava's heart stopped. But he didn't see her. His attention was fully elsewhere. His plans were moving. "Tell me." He asked about Barton, about Natasha.

The red head exhaled and lowered herself into a chair nearby. "Before I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D I…uh. Well I made a name for myself; I have a very specific skill set. I didn't care who I used it for. Or on."

Loki was listening fully. Waiting for a moment to strike. Trying to find out what he needed to know as they tried to find the Tesseract.

"I got on S.H.I.E.L.D's radar in a bad way." Natasha continued. "Agent Barton was sent to kill me. He made a different call."

The man nodded slowly. "And what will you do if I vow to spare him?"

"I'd let you out." Natasha breathed honestly.

Loki laughed. "I like this. The world in the balance and you bargain for one man?"

"Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that – I'm Russian. Or I was."

"And what are you now?" The man questioned.

Natasha stood. "Its really not that complicated. I've got red in my ledger and I'd like to wipe it out."

Ava felt this story was a bit too familiar. She and Natasha would obviously do many things for a man. They both had promises to keep. And their men knew that. The young woman clenched her jaw and continued to watch. Loki was thinking, playing, waiting.

The man's next words almost felt like they were directed at himself. "Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Drakovs daughter? San Paulo? The Hospital Fire?" Natasha's face changed at his words. It looked as if she'd been slapped. "Barton told me everything."

Loki rose and approached the woman. Ava felt the need to run to him. She could see him crumbling into the man who had forced her to bow in front of him. Saw him evolving from that into something darker. Something so lost it had just about given up.

"Your ledger is dripping." He spat. "Its gushing red and you thinking saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything. This is a basest sentimentality. This is a child, a prayer. Pathetic. You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code; something that makes up for the horrors but they are part of you and they will Never. Go. Away."

Ava felt herself take a step back from the man even though he had no idea she was there.

She took another step, her back planting against the cold door, when he slammed his hand onto the glass of his cell. "I wont touch Barton – not until I make him kill you…slowly, intimately, in every way he knows you fear."

Natasha moved away from him, her mouth opening in horror and her body turning away so she didn't have to look at Loki's face as he spoke about such things.

"And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work and when he screams I'll split his skull." Loki's intensity was ferocious. Terrifying. "This is my bargain, you mewling quim."

Ava wanted to hit him. She wanted to cry. She wanted time itself to fall apart so she wouldn't have to hear what he was saying.

"You monster." Natasha said lowly.

Loki laughed and straightened. "Oh no, you brought the monster."

The red head turned; her expression completely calm. "So…Banner? That's your play?"

The man frowned. "What?"

"Loki means to unleash The Hulk." Natasha pressed her ear piece as she moved to the door that would lead her to the lab. "Meet me in the lab, I'm on my way. Bring Thor too." She turned to Loki. "Thank you for your cooperation." The woman glanced at Ava. "Your turn."

Loki spun sharply to see the blonde standing there. He was furious for a moment and slammed his hand into the glass. He strode right up to his cell, right in front of where Ava stood, and waited.

The young woman watched Natasha leave before making her way up to the edge of the glass. "That was the ugliest, most monstrous thing I have ever seen. And much too honest. Do you believe your own lies that much?"

"How long were you there?"

"Do you have to ask?" He knew she had been there the whole time. Ava continued. "You were always under the pressure of expectation, and you always were a bit entitled – you are a prince after all, and you were born to be king. King of Jotunheim, king of Asgard – it doesn't matter. Its in your blood. The moment you found out you were the cast out bastard of an enemy race was the moment you let it all infect you like a virus, like a plague that only affects your soul." She was angry with him.

"It is no plague. I know the truth. I know freedom."

"No you don't!" Ava stepped right up to the glass. "You know lies and darkness and you've forgotten what light and truth feels like! Who are you?"

"I am Loki, of Asgard."

"Of Asgard? How can you claim that when you have been rotting in some godforsaken hole in the universe for all this time?"

"I am the rightful king!"

"You are not a king! Even if you had a crown on your head and a sceptre in your hand you would not be king! You were a bastard that was left to die and the enemy of your race took you in and loved you, cared for you, raised you as the Royalty you are and how do you repay him? By throwing it all away?"

"They lied to me."

"They loved you! They still do. But your heartache has hardened you and turned you into a destructive menace." Ava swallowed and turned away briefly. She closed her eyes. "Loki, wherever you are, you have more humanity in you than anyone else. I still know that and I still see that. I know that all you want is to go home." She put her hand up on the glass, her ring making a soft little clang as it touched. "I know you just want to be accepted and loved. I will still accept and love you but right now you don't deserve to love me. You don't even deserve to wear that ring."

The man glanced at the piece on his finger and closed his hand. "What would you know? Do you know how long I sat in that abyss waiting for my chance to come here and seize power?"

"I know how long you were gone, and I know you weren't waiting for power."

"I was betrayed. Would you betray me now too?"

"You have betrayed yourself and you have betrayed me."

The man's face was hurt.

Ava pressed her forehead to the glass and closed her eyes. "You have left me in this darkness, in silence, and you haven't even tried to look for me. You knew I would come but, if it were me instead of you, would you come for me?"

"Of course." He put his hand over where hers was. "How could you say that?"

She met his eye. "Because I don't know if you would. I don't know you anymore."

Loki opened his mouth to talk but no words came out. "Join me, Ava. We can rule together. We can be together."

She shook her head. "The person talking right now is the same as the one who forced me to my knees on a balcony in Asgard. I do not know that person."

The man blinked. "What are you saying?"

"I am begging you to come back. To come find me as I have come to find you." Ava inhaled slowly. "And I am saying that you've discarded me and that it hurts. That you have hurt me more than any other being, words, or sight could ever hurt me. Not in what you have done but in who you have become."

Loki clenched his jaw. "What would you have me do?"

"Not leave!" Ava dropped her hand away. "Not fall into the abyss believing nothing and no one cared for you. It might have been easier for you to go that way, thinking you would be no loss to anyone. But you were. Stop lying to yourself! Just stop it!"

"I can't!" He yelled back.

"No. You don't want to. You don't even care about earth. You don't care about this place or its people or whether they will bow to you or not. You don't care. It is not on your agenda and never has been. So what is really going on here? If you wanted to come home all you had to do was ask."

"Its that easy, is it?" He spat.

"Yes! You are a very good liar, Loki. Very good. This lie that you're telling to everyone right now, that you know what you're doing, that you want to do it, that you have a choice, and that you're not afraid of something lurking in the shadows…its brilliant. It really is. If I didn't know any better I think I would believe the lie too."

"So you think you're better than me?"

"Right now I am better than you."

The man hissed and turned away. "How dare you say that to me?"

"Because its exactly what you need to hear. You are so certain of everything but not where it counts. You lack the moral grounding for this fight – you've convinced yourself that you are some dark saviour but you know you're not. Deep down you still think you're a blue monster that no one could ever really love. You don't know what you want. This is all just a coping mechanism. This is all you trying to fight a battle you can never win on your own."

"Leave." Loki said lowly.

Ava watched his back carefully. He turned and met her eye.

"Leave me." He was angry.

The young woman nodded. She reached the door and it opened for her and she stepped through. She paused and turned back around. "Loki."

He looked at her from where he stood in the middle of his cell.

"I still love you. Never forget that."

Ava vanished from his sight. He vanished from hers. The young woman stood on the other side of the door and exhaled unsteadily. She planted her back against the wall and slid down to the floor as her legs turned to jelly. Her heart felt like it had been through a blender and her stomach hurt from the stress. She wanted to sleep forever. Just drift off and never come back. Ava just wanted to rest. But she couldn't get over the fact that wherever she lay he would not be beside her. Not like this. Never like this.

0.0.0

Ava was escorted to the lab where the rest of the team seeking the Tesseract was located.

"I'd like to know" Bruce was speaking, his tone and posture the calmest in the room "why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

Fury pointed right at Thor. "Because of him."

The blonde man scowled. "Me?"

"Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge matched that levelled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone but that we are hopelessly and hilariously outgunned." Fury explained himself.

"Our people want nothing but peace with your planet." Thor defended Asgard.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you? And not all of your people want what you want?" The man looked right at Ava. "The world is filling up with people who can be matched, who can be controlled."

"Like you controlled The Cube?" Steve crossed his arms.

Ava remained silent as Thor spoke. Her words would mean little here. "Your work with The Tesseract is what drew Loki to it. And his allies. It is a sickness to every realm if the earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?"

Steve was interrupted by Fury. "You forced our hand."

"With a nuclear deterrent." Tony interrupted Fury. "Because that always calms everything down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Was the rebuttal.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons Stark would be neck deep in…" Steve stepped forward.

"Woah, woah, woah. How is this now about me?"

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Rodgers glared at Tony.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this." Thor said bitterly. He glanced at Ava. "And I thought you were better than this."

"What?" The girl glanced around to make sure she was the one being addressed. "This is not the time, Thor."

"These people have taken our weapons and ideas and you've defied Odin himself to rescue a war villain. What example does that leave?"

"How dare you talk about him that way? Loki is your brother. And the humans don't want our actions, they want our weapons."

"Why are you acting like you're the better race?" Steve interjected.

"Because we are." The God of Thunder replied bluntly. "We are much more advanced than you."

"Excuse me. Advanced?" Fury stepped in front of Thor. "Do we come to your planet and blow stuff up?"

Everyone started to talk at once, attacking and defending at the same time. Ava felt herself reeling from her conversation with Loki earlier and from Thor's anger. The whole team was falling apart. If you had been able to see the threads that bound them you would have been able to see them all disintegrating quickly. These people did not trust each other and never had.

"You speak of control yet you court chaos." Thor spoke over them all.

"What are we, a team?" Banner spoke up, his calm disappearing. "No, we're a chemical team that makes chaos. We're a time bomb."

Fury suddenly came to attention and that attention was right on Bruce. "You need to step away."

Tony defended his new friend. "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam." He put his hand on Steve's shoulder.

Rodgers instantly threw the touch away. "You know damn well why. Back off."

"Oh I'm starting to want you to make me."

"Yeah." Steve breathed. "Big man in a suit of armour; take that off and what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Stark replied without missing a beat.

That didn't stop Captain America. "I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage – the only thing you really fight for is yourself."

Everyone had grown quiet to hear Steve speak.

"You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on the wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I would just cut the wire." Was the frank reply.

"Always a way out." Rodgers scoffed. "You know, you may not be a threat but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero? Like you? You're a laboratory experiment, Rodgers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

These two could have been a perfect team but instead they were fighting like dogs. They all were. The whole atmosphere changed; everyone knew they were all just individuals and not a team. Nothing bound them together. Ava had not come to be friends with anyone, to save anyone except Loki, and now she saw the ramifications of such emotion and was astounded by it. The world could collapse under selfishness. But she was not selfish. She was here for Loki. She was not selfish.

"Put on your suit." Steve challenged. "Lets go a few rounds."

Thor burst out laughing. "You humans are so petty. And tiny."

"Yeah this is a team." Bruce said evenly.

"Agent Romanov, would escort Dr Banner back to his…"

"Where?" Banner interjected. "You rented my room."

"The cell was just in ca…"

"Just in case you needed to kill me but you cant, I know, I've tried."

Ava paused and looked at Bruce.

"I got low. I didn't see an end so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good until you dragged me back into this freak show."

Ava knew his path well but she had not gone to help others, only to help Loki. And she did not reach for the staff powered by the Tesseract in her anger.

"You put everyone here at risk." Banner kept talking. "You want to know my secret, Agent Romanov? You want to know how I stay calm?"

The young woman noticed Natasha and Fury unholster their guns. Whatever the "other guy" was he was something to be afraid of. Something everyone was afraid of. Something Loki wanted to use to destroy them.

"Dr Baner." Steve spoke when no one else would. "I think you should put down the sceptre."

There was silence. It stretched out over millennia. Ava felt cold, revealed, naked even though no one was looking at her. Suddenly a computer buzzed.

"Got it." Fury turned.

"I guess you don't get to see my party trick after all." Banner quickly walked to the computer. Natasha followed closely.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it." Thor spoke bluntly.

Tony started to leave to go after The Cube, Steve stopped him, they began to fight again. Banner took his glasses off "Oh my god" he said under his breath.

Ava frowned and went to ask him what was wrong but before she could even take a step the whole ship shuddered, a bang shot through with a ball of fire. It blew the glass out of the lab and threw those in the room in different directions. The young woman felt herself hit the glass window of the lab and fly through it.

She hit the ground viciously and felt her head reel. Ava got up quickly. Inside she had been nurturing a feeling; it had started to grow the moment the team had started to fall apart. She was selfish and she was here for Loki and she was okay with that.

Ava started to run toward the area of the ship she knew her weapons were in. An armed man stood in her way. When he saw her sprinting he raised his weapon toward her and fired. Of course he did; they did not know whose side she was on because she didn't know whose side she was on either.

The bullet hit the young woman and threw her off balance. It didn't penetrate her. They hadn't penetrated Loki when he had arrived and they probably wouldn't hurt Thor either; not unless fired at closer range. The young woman kicked the gun from the man's hands. As her leg reached the apex of its swing she reversed and lifted it, bringing her heel over his jaw and knocking his head into the wall.

Ava knelt beside the unconscious man and took his security key from his belt. Before she knew it she was at the interrogation room with her weapons, preparing herself for what was to come. Ava didn't want people to die, she didn't want the world to suffer the power of the Tesseract. And they didn't have to. Loki was there; she had seen him. As soon as he was near the Tesseract they would go home.

No one had to die. No one had to fall apart. Sometimes being selfish saved a lot of lives; it didn't have to always be destructive. But it was. It always was. And everyone always lied to themselves in order to keep on fighting, to keep their eyes on what they wanted most.

And what Ava wanted most was her old life back. She wanted the old Loki back despite the fact that they had both changed. So she lied. Lied and lied and convinced herself that she could handle the truth when it was over. Maybe she could. Maybe she couldn't. But it was a risk she was willing to take for him. For what she knew to be true; that Loki was still alive and that he loved her.

* * *

_And so the story continues. Again, all the lines from the movie belong to the makers of the film and to Marvel, not to me.  
Tell me how you're enjoying things so far. __  
Thank you to everyone for their support and thank you to everyone who sent me get well messages - it was so sweet and I appreciate it very much.  
Blessings,  
P. _


	9. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7  
**

* * *

Chaos allows people to see their true selves and the truth in others. It shows how level headed a person really is, how courageous they actually are, or how independent they need to be. So many feel so lost in the midst of chaos but really they are at the core of themselves; they find a piece of their puzzle that fits alongside the pieces of joy, and sadness, and anger.

Ava strode quickly through the ship and toward Loki. Guards that saw her paused and then hurried on with what they were doing – there was too much going on to question the alliance of a little blonde girl. They saw her gentle heart and her worried expression and assumed that she was on their side; all villains had stubborn faces and frozen feelings, right?

The young woman stopped dead when she heard a roar rip through the ship. It wasn't far away and it definitely wasn't human. The sound of metal banging on metal broke through the walls along with the ripping of bolts and the continual noises of a beast unbeknownst to the girl.

She notched an arrow to the string of her bow and headed silently for the sound. If what she had heard about Bruce Banner had been correct then Loki's plan was indeed in full swing. If what she had heard was true then a monster was loose on the ship and it was furious.

Just as Ava went quiet so did the area around her. Everything was desperately still. The blonde stepped into a dark part of the ship, maintenance routes and storage columns stretched out before her and she could not comprehend how alien they were to her. These humans advancing but in ways that the Asgardians never had.

Out of the corner of her eye the young woman saw a hulking green figure. Never in her life had she seen anything so massive – it was bigger than the Jotuns and it…she stopped. It had on the face of Bruce Banner. The same face. The same eyes. That man could see what was happening – he couldn't stop it and he wouldn't remember for the shock but he was watching.

Ava felt her heart crumble for him. Loki could not see and believed he could not stop. He would remember and relive all of what he was doing and he would feel shame and anxiety and sadness – the Loki she knew would experience all of those things and more. He just didn't know it yet.

The beast was not looking at the Asgardian. Ava drew her bow back fully and aimed. If it were her trapped in the body of a monster she would want to be dropped and silenced. But the creature roared, the sound penetrating painfully into the blonde's head. A gunshot rang out and Ava saw Natasha coming out of hiding like a mouse scurrying to the next point of safety.

The young woman saw Banner leap after her, rushing through plates of glass and casting piles of metal aside in his rage. Ava took a deep breath and watched down the edge of her arrow. The man was exposed and she could see the parts of him that would hurt him most. The beast swiped at Natasha and sent the already limping woman sprawling into a wall.

Ava released her arrow. It made a hard contact and there was silence. The monster snorted and turned his head. The young woman's heart faltered when she saw her projectile on the ground. She had aimed for the back of the knee, at the soft skin that covered important ligaments and tendons. At the last minute she couldn't make a killing blow but at least she could stop him from hurting Natasha further. But there wasn't even a scratch.

Ava drew another arrow back and moved forward toward the other woman.

"Stop!" Natasha yelled. "You don't know what you're dealing with here. Just leave. Quickly leave."

Ava didn't reply. She didn't know why she had come this way when her intent was solely to get to Loki…but she had taken this way and now it was time to do something about it. She considered Romanov a friend – someone who could comprehend her. What drove her.

But the red head was yelling at her to leave, her eyes fearful of the monster that now turned to the blonde. In her head Ava thought that this beast was a man, that it was just the ugly side of him, that it was something he could control and put away. But in her heart she knew that it was not like that at all. She knew that he hated this side of himself but when it took over he could not help but give himself unwillingly to the monster. And it felt too familiar.

Ava stopped and met the red-head's eye. Banner grunted, snorted, and charged. He covered the distance to her in no time and slammed into her violently. She could not breathe and felt her torso being constructed painfully. The hand of the monster wrapped around her waist effortlessly and he lifted her from the ground as if she weighed no more than a feather. The girl gasped and twisted only to be suddenly free and hurtling toward Natasha. Her hand clenched tightly around her bow but the hold was broken as soon as she hit the wall. The weapon clattered away and the sound of angry footsteps and brutish breath hurried ever closer. The hit had knocked the wind out of the young woman but she still had her knives. She stretched back and grabbed a blade and pulled it out quickly, The Hulk reaching her just as the weapon came free. The point of the knife hit him square in the chest, right through the sternum. But it did not puncture the skin. Ava felt the metal turn violently away, slip and throw her off balance as it failed to break or make proper contact.

Banner still yelled in pain, the force and intent behind the hit evident. He roared and wailed and lifted the girl sharply up. Ava felt her head make blunt contact with a metal railing above her and instantly felt a sudden darkness. The Hulk let her go and she crumbled down, gasping on her hands and knees, with blood dripping from a gash in her hairline. The red blur that had torn the two apart had cast the monster into the adjacent room – destroying a wall in the process.

Ava sat up and carefully climbed to her feet. The girl went first to her bow, then put her knife away, and then turned to Natasha. She did not want the red head to see the paleness in her face.

The red head stared at her "that should have killed you."

The girl offered her hand. "I'm fine." She knew Asgardians were physically more advanced than humans – they could take bigger hits, suffer deeper wounds, and fall from higher heights. It was why the people of earth called them gods.

"You're bleeding." Natasha took the hand and stood slowly. The blonde's cut was not so deep and did not bleed quite so freely as perhaps a human wound would. She wiped at it with her free hand and flinched more at the pain underlying the hole.

Ava felt the other woman's fingers trembling, saw the sweat on her face, saw how scared she was. She didn't say anything about it. She wouldn't want anyone to say anything about it if it were her.

Both women turned suddenly to the sound of The Hulk raging nearby.

The Asgardian quickly stepped to the gap in the wall and saw Thor holding the arm of the green monster, their strength matched fairly evenly.

"We are not your enemies, Banner. Try to think." The god of thunder spoke.

Ava felt guilt instantly. She had not tried to reason with the man, only tried to drop the monster. Yes, if she were in that state she would want a quick end…but she would also want to know that people believed she could come back. After all – that was what she was doing for Loki. Perhaps she truly was selfish.

The Hulk drove his fist into Thor and sent him flying. The beast chased after his target but the man called upon his hammer. The weapon flew through the room ripping through anything in its path, and was caught by a knowing hand before being cast against a chin that had probably never taken a hit like it before.

Ava was confident that Thor would be okay. She knew that Loki was not far away, that she could reach him quickly if she moved now. Natasha grabbed the blonde by the arm. "Don't. Stop now. Once we have The Tesseract you can go home."

"Earth wants The Tesseract. We cannot go home if you have it. Do not lie to me, Natasha." Ava paused. "I don't care about going back to Asgard right now, I just care about bringing him back."

"You cant get him back without The Tesseract. Don't make a stupid mistake."

"I do not need The Cube to bring him home."

Natasha blinked and understood. Ava held so tight to the belief that this man could return to her that she didn't even care about where. His coming to himself, the opening of his eyes to the light once again…it was enough.

The red head let go. Ava couldn't look at her friend and instead just hurried off, wiping at her head as she did so. If she had looked back she would have seen the woman sink to the floor, trembling and in shock from the attack by The Hulk. If she had looked back maybe she would gone back. She didn't want to risk it. The flow of blood on her head had slowed and perhaps there would be a bruise, but she was fine. She was alright. She would be okay. Physically.

The speakers came to life overhead a few minutes later. "We've got a perimeter breech." Loki's rescue had come. His escape had come now that the monster had been unleashed upon his enemies.

Ava ran right into Coulson as she hurried toward Loki. She was only a few moments away from him. They stared at each other for a very long moment.

"What are you doing?" The man said in his kind, firm way.

"I have to get to Loki. Especially now that there are other people on board besides you and your team."

"What will you do once you get to him?"

"I…" The young woman hesitated. "I just need to see him. Maybe get through to him, get him to stop this madness. Just something."

"You were going to let him out."

"This ship falls from the sky." Ava answered honestly. "I do not want to fight with you, Coulson. You are a good man."

"And Loki is not. Why all of this for him?"

"Because once he had a light just like yours, an honesty and a loyalty that I thought could withstand anything."

"And what happened?"

Ava clenched her jaw. "He…found a way to justify many hurts. I didn't try to stop him then, I thought I could believe in the goodness in him. But…his light went out and mine was not nearby to help him find it again."

Coulson watched her in a calm and patient way. "Come with me."

Out of nowhere the ship grew quieter and began to lurch to the side. Ava stumbled against the wall, the man catching her and bracing himself all at once.

"The engines." He said more to himself. He seemed worried for the moment but something in him was consistent – he believe in the team that had been gathered though they did not believe in themselves and that was a powerful thing.

Ava watched Coulson lean to a nearby door and open it.

"Go." He said. "I will be right back."

She knew the door. It lead to Loki. He believed her one of the team, believed that she would not let him down. Believed that, now that she had seen that part of him, that she couldn't let him down.

Ava didn't stop to think on it anymore. She ran against the lurching floor into the room.

Loki stood over the cell controls, his brother encased in the glass cage in his place. "The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?"

"Stop it." The blonde strode forward. "Stop it right now. It is not the time for killing each other – you can do that for the rest of your lives. Lets just get to them first."

Loki paused and smiled wickedly. "Why wait?"

"Who are you?" Ava shot back.

The man frowned and lifted his hand from the controls. The enemy that had let him out stood between him and the young woman, gun drawn. The god of mischief pushed past him and walked right up to the young woman. He stopped in front of her and for the first time she remember how much taller he was than her. How much taller he felt.

"Stop this, Loki. Open your eyes." She was quiet.

"Did you come to free me?"

"You want me to say yes but I'm not going to."

"Then what did you come for?"

"Though you have left my side…I cannot leave yours."

Loki was quiet. He clenched his jaw.

Ava searched his face, tried to find the light in his eyes. "One day we'll tell our kids about this." She smiled gently. "We'll tell them how the humans thought they could contain you, but it wasn't you at all. No one could defeat the Loki I know. They'll be so proud of their father for what he has overcome, for who he has become through it all."

The man hissed but not angrily.

The girl touched his face and he stopped, his eyes closing and opening back on her. "They'll love you so much, as much as I do, and you will be their king and it will be enough." She laughed through her exhaustion and sadness. "And they'll be so stubborn and pig headed and I'm sure they'll get into trouble every single day."

Ava saw the small smile on his face, through his soul. She felt herself relax. There he was. He was tired and hurt and confused, lied to, lost, lonely…but there.

"I'm going to fight with you until you come back. I will be by your side but I will fight you because you deserve it and I deserve it."

"You do not understand." He said, his darkness returning.

The young woman was afraid for him. So terribly afraid. "What good is it to gain the world if you lose your soul?"

"Loki, listen to her. She is not the only one who wants you home." Thor's voice overcame everything. And it was enough. The jealousy, the shadow, the blood rage; it took over. It was like a door slammed in Ava's face.

It all fell to pieces. "Home? What do you know of my home, Thor? Of the place lying in your shadow, in the lies of your father?" Loki turned sharply away from Ava and went back to the controls. "You can't tell me what to do, brother." He spat out the last word.

"No." The woman said sharply. "Don't turn away from me now. How dare you leave me like this? How dare you leave me for darkness and cold and suffering?"

Ava felt the instinct to grab her bow but she fought it. Instead the man who had come to free Loki fell to the ground. Everyone turned to see Agent Coulson wielding a gun the size of his torso.

"Move away please." He spoke in his usual voice.

Loki saw the weapon and stepped back, his hands up.

"You like this?" Coulson motioned at the gun. "We started working on the prototype after you sent The Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does." He turned the weapon on and it buzzed to life. "Want to find out?"

Bless Coulson. Ava was exceptionally fond of that man. They could be great friends. He had a heart most humans could never imagine existing. So forward and upright and ready to fight for what was right.

Ava felt the blood rush from her body when she saw the stillness in Loki. It was not him. Coulson gasped in pain as the sound of metal cutting through flesh filled the room. The man by the controls vanished entirely and the man with the sceptre through the back of the best human Ava had ever met became a cruel reality. She wanted to fall to her knees and scream. She fought violently against that urge.

Thor slammed his hand against the glass of the cell and screamed "NO!"

Coulson slid slowly to the ground, a blood stain growing on his shirt. Ava hurried beside him and knelt down, her hands were on his wound quickly. Front to back Loki had pierced him. Skewered him. The girl felt her heart faltering.

"I am so sorry." She looked Coulson in the eye and felt a tear slide down her cheek. "I tried. I did. I'm trying. I'll make it work, I promise."

The man smiled through his obvious pain. Cold air swirled around the room and the young woman looked up to see Loki ready to press the button that would drop his brother to his death. Ava closed her eyes and felt Coulson's hand over hers as she tried to hold his wound and all of her own together. The sound of the cell dropping away shattered the young woman. The sound of Loki closing the switch was even worse. He strode over and grabbed Ava by the arm, just above the elbow.

He lifted her to her feet and watched her face. The young woman felt her hands trying to stay with Coulson, felt his fingers leaving hers; sticky, wet, and warm with his blood. Loki ran his thumb over a tear on her face and kissed her gently on the forehead before leading her away toward the door. She was all he had left now.

Ava felt herself shaking, felt herself just existing in that moment as the shock and sadness disabled her. She didn't know this man. Just as The Hulk wasn't Bruce, this man wasn't Loki. He just had a better disguise.

"You're going to lose." The man said from the floor.

Loki stopped and let her go. "Am I?"

"Its in your nature." Coulson spoke softly.

The man stepped forward in a condescending way. "Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky…where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction."

Ava felt those words ring through her. Felt their absolute truth.

Loki obviously did not feel the same. Or at least the young woman didn't get the chance to see it before Coulson fired the weapon resting in his lap and sent the other man hurtling through the wall.

"So that's what it does." He said, his eyes becoming ever more distant.

The young woman saw him there, sitting in his pooling blood, and wanted to stay. But behind her Loki was getting to his feet. She would go with him. She knew she would. The girl didnt even remember getting onto the main deck of the ship with him; there was no memory of that happening. Ava came to when she saw in Loki that he was breaking as she was. There wasnt enough of her at that moment to work out why, or to want to work out why. But he was there again, his control of the monster taken and his eyes surveying the damage; surveying her. And she would go with him. She would go though her feet felt like lead and she wished she had drowned that day so she wouldn't have to see any of this. In that moment Ava believed it would have been better to have died. It would have been better for both of them.

* * *

_Its a little late I know and I am sorry. I've been super busy and I hope you can forgive me.  
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Things are getting darker for Ava. And Coulson...so many of you asked if I could save him or find some loophole but my intention was always to stay with the plot. But dont dispair, Coulson fans. He may do a Sherlock on us yet.  
As always - the quotes from The Avengers belong to Marvel and the makers of the movie and not to me in any way.  
Let me know what you thought.  
Blessings,  
P.  
_


	10. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8  
**

* * *

Ava sat quietly in the helicopter as it sped away from the falling fortress; she did not know that the engines would be restarted, or that Thor had made his way out of the glass cage before it smashed into the earth below. All she knew was a numbness, a painful buzzing, and darkness. The image of Coulson dying burned through her mind in slow motion. And then there had been Loki, the one she knew, the man she loved – right there in front of her, standing with her for the first time in a long time…only to be cruelly snatched away.

Did that man even exist anymore? Had he actually died when he fell into the void?

Ava swallowed and looked around the cabin. Men dressed in dark clothes sat silently with their guns and their grim expressions. There had been many losses today – losses for both sides. Loki stood up the front behind the pilot, his hands behind his back, and his face never turning to see her. If he had looked maybe it would have broken him, broken the cacoon of darkness and loneliness and brought him home once and for all.

The young woman saw the edge of the sea outside her window giving way to houses and buildings, roads with cars, and ever growing numbers of people. She knew nothing of Manhattan, of New York. This was just one of many cities on the eternally spinning globe. And she was just one of many lives within it.

The craft landed on the top of a tall building inscribed with the name 'STARK'. The doors opened and the men all climbed out. Ava sat. She sat and looked at the ground between her feet.

"Come." Loki's hand was in front of her face. "Let me show you the new world I have planned."

"I have seen your new world. I have been in the middle of your plans." She did not look up at him. "And they are truly the most hideous things I have ever seen." Ava rose and left the man standing in her words.

She saw The Tesseract and a greying man nearby. He was tinkering and the Cube was glowing. The young woman waked right on by and headed down into the building itself. The moment she entered the penthouse she knew it belonged to Tony Stark – it had his touch everywhere she looked.

Ava still felt the throbbing in her head from when the Hulk had battered her against the ceiling. She touched the wound gently and found that pieces of dried blood came away with her fingers. The young woman found a sink surrounded by bottles of fine alcohol and stout crystal cups. She ran the water and reached out to let it run over her hands when her wrist was gently caught.

"Let me." Loki had followed her down and now looked her in the face; half of the man she loved and half the lost stranger mingled in his eyes. The man reached for a small cloth that lay folded neatly on top of an elegant pile. He ran the water over it and dabbed it to the gash on Ava's hairline.

There was a silence. She slapped him. Hard. Loki touched the side of his face gingerly before turning back to Ava. She hit him again. Her hand felt like the skin would fall away from the sharp pain tingling through it.

"What…" He didn't take a step back, his face was confused. The sound of the tap gushing onto the cloth now at the bottom of the sink filled the background.

"What? You ask 'what' when you know exactly what." Ava's voice was raised. "You just killed a good man – an exceptional man. You stabbed him through the back with your trickery, and your lies, and your foul plot. Why do you care about this goddamn world? Why when you would have been welcome back to Asgard? When I would have been by you the entire time?"

"When?" Loki frowned briefly. "You mean to say your allegiances are no longer with me?"

"They are not." Ava watched the expression on his face flicker with anger and hurt. "I will not ally myself to whatever this man is."

"This man?" He raised his voice and stepped away. "This man was betrayed and cast out! How dare you judge me when you know exactly what happened!"

"You don't even know what happened!" Ava started to continue but slammed the tap off in frustration before she did so. "You only know a lie that you told yourself as you sat alone on some cold planet with whoever the hell is controlling you. Who is it? Who is the puppet master?"

"I am a king! I control myself! I do what I want!"

"You don't want this!" Ava stepped right up to him. "You never wanted this. This is not you and it never will be. You want something else and you're hiding behind this plan. Cowering behind this plan."

The man clenched his jaw.

"What are you going to do now, great King Loki? Are you going to force me to bow in front of you?" The words hit him painfully and she knew it. Ava felt guilty for a moment but not for long. Not after what he had done. "Because your brother isn't around anymore so you can't force him to his knees. How does that feel? Thor, the man you were raised with, the brother you truly loved, gone."

"Thor deserved what happened to him."

"In what way? He fought for what was good and right in this world. He fought for you and now he never will." Ava turned away. "And if he wont and I obviously cant, then who will?"

"I don't need anyone to fight for me."

"You're wrong." The young woman stepped into the room below, pulling her weapons off and setting them on a sofa before facing him again. "And I can't do anything to make it right. What am I supposed to do now that I have done everything? What else is there? I'm nothing special and obviously I never was anything special to you."

"How can you say that?" Loki stepped down after her, still angry, voice still hard and raised. But he was being honest.

"Because I can't do anything more until you do something too. I have walked and run and fallen over in this darkness and never have you raised a hand to help. Never have you tried to find me."

"You don't know that."

Ava's face softened. "Then tell me. Please tell me."

Loki walked up close and took a piece of her hair between his fingers. He watched it before tucking it behind her ear and setting his eyes on her face. His voice was sincere. "I thought of you every day I was gone."

Ava half turned from him. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because it's me." He followed her movement and turned her chin to gently face him. "Its me, Ava. I brought you here so we could get through this together."

"I don't believe that this is you. This is a shadow of you, of who you were and could be. This whole thing is a lie so intricate you almost believe it yourself."

There was a silence and in it the woman realised something. There was not just darkness but also a tangle. A tangle of ideas and ideals and of lies and truth. They were a mess – lost up together and wound around each other so many times it was impossible to tell which was which and which was right.

Ava crossed her arms defensively. "You killed your brother, Loki. You killed Thor and Coulson and who knows how many others on that ship." Ava crossed her arms in a defensive sadness. She looked him in the eye. "I love you still but…"

"But what?"

"The fact that there is a 'but' at all should indicate a problem." The young woman straightened herself and walked outside onto the immense balcony.

Loki turned and watched her go and took a step to follow before going still and clenching his jaw and turning back to the city below.

0.0.0

Ava strode up the stairs to the roof, her heart was racing in her chest and she thought she might just burst into tears. The helicopter was gone but the Tesseract was there. A man with grey hair and a little middle aged belly knelt beside the object and the machine it was strapped to. He tinkered away constantly, his eyes glowing blue under the power of the spell he was under.

This was Thor's friend.

"Are you Erik?" Ava stepped up.

The man jumped, he had not been aware of her presence. "I am, you must be Ava." He stood and offered his hand.

"How do you know who I am?"

"Thor mentioned you."

"He mentioned you too. You were a good friend to him."

Erik nodded and smiled. He seemed himself. He seemed alright.

Ava breathed in. "You do know that using the Tesseract is going to open the earth up to an attack? That people are going to die?"

The man nodded. "I do."

He was too relaxed. It was unnerving. "Doesn't that bother you? Your people are going to be slaughtered."

"They are already slaughtering each other in droves. As Loki said 'Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that in your heart you will know peace.'"

The young woman hesitated. "He is a better actor than I give him credit for."

"What?"

"He would not believe that for himself."

"He doesn't have to. Not him. He gets the burden of purpose."

"Does he now?"

Erik knelt down beside the Cube and apologised, he had to keep working. But he continued to talk. "The Tesseract has shown me many things. Beautiful, amazing things. Giving myself to it was the best thing I ever did."

Ava knew that this man never gave himself to the Tesseract. He had been taken, against his will, and his mind wiped. Perhaps that was what happened to Loki. Perhaps, deep down, Erik was watching himself and screaming and yelling. Perhaps he was in a glass cage; terrified of the drop should they take a wrong step.

The young woman looked out at the sprawling city. It was so messy; it smelled of cigarettes and car fumes and sounded like the wail of a million souls all scrambling over each other for something more. And it was beautiful. Breathtakingly beautiful. The struggle of life is the most gorgeous thing in all the universe; the struggle for love was even greater.

When Loki came out of his darkness she would hold him close and tell him that he was finally home. Ava was so excited for that moment. So dreadfully excited, so full of hope that it would come. She would say to him 'This is you and you are staying. You're staying, we'll handle this one moment at a time. Step by step, okay?' and he would smile and kiss her and they would cry for every moment lost and smile for every moment to come.

In her heart Ava knew that it wouldn't happen like that. It never would. It couldn't while she was in the darkness too and she wasn't prepared to leave it, to leave him. If he stood on the edge of a building with the intention of jumping she would climb up beside him and try to convince him stay even as she stood on the ledge ready to fall with him. Ava was too close to it all. To broken over it all. She would die for him and sometimes she wished she had died so she wouldn't have to see him as he was. It was tearing her apart.

The sound of spluttering engines and the red glint of a man made super machine tore Ava back into reality. She quickly wiped the tears from her face and looked up. Iron Man had come home and he was hovering right above them.

"Shut it down, Selvig." He said through his chipped and torn suit.

"Its too late!" The man yelled back. Ava frowned at the sudden anger in his voice and realised immediately that he had not seen her as an enemy but as an ally. That he had not even thought that she would destroy the Tesseract because she was with Loki – and that wasn't the case at all. "She cant stop now. She wants to show us something! A new universe…"

Stark aimed his weaponry at the Cube and looked over at Ava. He didn't say anything to her. He just fired at the Tesseract. The energy surrounding the power source exploded the attack and sent Tony reeling back through the air. Erik was tossed aside like a rag doll, his head making contact with the reactors nearby. Ava was thrown from her feet and slid through the gravel on her hands, her body folding and rolling and landing a bit too close to the edge for comfort. She shook her head and blinked hard and stood just in time to see Iron Man landing on his balcony.

The young woman went to Erik quickly and found him quite unconscious. He was alive though and he would be sore when he came to. But for now no one was watching the Tesseract. No one was protecting the Cube. Ava straightened.

It would be so easy to push the Tesseract from the building. It would tumble down and though the Cube itself wouldn't be destroyed every preparation that helped it open the portal would be. Things would be delayed. She would have time. She needed time. This man, this Erik Selvig, there had to be a way for him to be free and true again. There would be time for that.

Instead she hurried downstairs and into the penthouse.

"Stalling me wont change anything." Loki was speaking when she entered the room.

"No, no, no. Threatening." Stark was over by the bar where they had been earlier. "Hey, Ava. Want a drink?" Tony turned to Loki. "No drink, you sure? I'm having one."

The young woman watched carefully. Loki was nervous.

"The Chitauri are coming - nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers." Stark pulled the topper from a crystal bottle, his attitude still blasé despite the situation. "Its what we call ourselves; its sort of like a team. Earth's Mightiest Heroes type thing." He glanced at Ava. "Which you should be part of."

The young woman didn't say anything. Loki glanced sideways at her before returning to Tony with a smugly sarcastic smile. "I've met of them."

Stark laughed airily. "Yeah – it takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count here: your brother the demi-god;" Loki hissed at the mention of Thor but it did not stop the other man from continuing on with his list. " a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and YOU, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

Loki was pacing vaguely at this point. "That was the plan." His voice was obvious.

"Not a great plan." Tony came out with a drink in hand and what Ava noted to be a set of wrist cuffs. "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army." The Asgardian stood up to Stark defiantly.

"We have a Hulk." Was the equally defiant reply.

"Oh." Loki said vaguely. "I thought the beast had wandered off."

Tony walked toward the other man slowly. "You're missing the point! There's no throne, there is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it."

Loki stalked closer to Stark. "How will your friends have time for me when they're so busy fighting you?" He lifted his sceptre.

"Stop it, Loki." Ava stepped forward just in time for the point of the staff to make contact with Tony's chest. There was a dull metal clang.

The god of mischief frowned and drew the sceptre back to try again. The same nothingness occurred. Stark looked very, very relieved and amused all at the same time. He glanced at Ava with a bemused smile.

"Well performance issues are not uncommon; one out of five…" He nodded at the young woman. "That why things are a little tense between you two?"

Loki grabbed Tony by the throat and threw him across the room with ease. The human landed hard and spoke to 'Jarvis', someone Ava had no recollection of ever meeting. The Asgardian retook the man by his neck as he stood.

"You all fall before me." He hissed.

Ava frowned at Tony's response. He simply shouted "Deploy. Deploy." Before being thrown from a window. The young woman hurried to the broken glass to see if maybe he had landed on a ledge or somehow survived. But he hadn't. Her heart sank. She turned to Loki just in time for what she had thought to be an ornament against the far wall explode open and catapult out of the room.

Loki was furious. He turned to her. "What did he mean when he said you were one of them?"

Ava lifted a hand to hopefully stop him from taking out his frustration on her. "He didn't say that. He said I could have been. I have no interest in being an Avenger. I just want to take you home."

"Oh? Then why didn't you do anything? You could have supported my cause."

"Stop it, Loki! Just stop it!"

"Why? Why should I?"

"Because you're braver than this. You're better than this."

"Stop pretending I'm something I'm not."

"Only if you do too." She shot back.

At that moment Tony reappeared in his new suit. Ava felt relief flood through her.

"And there is one other person you pissed off." Stark said angrily. His voice suddenly calmed. "His name is Phil."

Loki raised his sceptre but Tony opened fire and hit the other man square in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards.

"Lets get you out of here." Stark spoke to Ava.

The young woman had taken a step toward Loki. The sound of the Tesseract powering up and opening fire stopped them all. The god of mischief smiled.

Tony looked up and mumbled something. He looked back at the girl and said "Hang tight, Blondie" before shooting off.

The buzzing sounds of the Chitauri craft shot through the building followed by images of the invaders shooting past the windows and flying into the city, opening fire and starting their destruction in full force.

Ava went to the couch where her weapons rested and fetched them deftly.

"You mean to fight them?" Loki had found his feet again. "You mean to fight me?"

"I don't know you." She replied frankly. "When the man who loves me comes around please deliver a message - tell him that I am incredibly disappointed in him."

"Disappointed?" Loki raised his eyebrows, his gaze on her and not on the attack he had been planning for. What he wanted, and what he needed – they were very different things indeed.

"Incredibly." Ava fitted her weapons to her body. "He has abused me and left me in a dark pit with no way out. He promised to find me, to help me find him, and he broke that promise – even when I have been keeping mine and continue to keep mine. Even when I continue to love him and all he has done is forsake me. You think you're the one who was betrayed? You know nothing of betrayal."

Loki was silent, his lips parted in preparation to say something. He looked as if she had slapped him again. He would have preferred that.

Ava walked right up to the man she searched his eyes and saw him there, clawing his way out perhaps. Maybe. She put both hands on the side of his face and kissed him gently before turning away and heading for the elevator down.

Fighting him was exhausting. Fighting his plans was worse. But it was all she could do to stop herself from falling to pieces.

* * *

_A bit less movie and a bit more Ava/Loki this time. Let me know what you thought - your support and encouragement for this story has been phenomenal and I am so thankful for everyone who is reading and everyone who is reviewing. I apprecaite you all very much.  
As always: Avengers lines belong to Marvel and the makers of the movie and not to me. _

_Blessings,  
P. _


	11. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

Those who never thought they would experience a battle react in one of two ways when a fight begins to engulf them; they either run and scream, blindly panicking, or they do what they can to ensure that they, and their loved ones, survive. It is not a beautiful thing because whichever path someone chooses they are always afraid. Always so terrified that they weep and yell and sweat.

Ava saw the street in front of the STARK building, she saw all the people running blindly. There were mothers gathering their children and heading in whichever direction seemed the least dangerous, business men moving in herds that didn't have a leader, and the lovers holding hands. The young woman saw a young couple towing each other through the terror of the onslaught. Chitauri darkened the sky like rain clouds, their vehicles whizzing here and there as they fired blue blasts of energy into cars, buildings, even into groups of people.

Ava took her bow out and notched an arrow to the string. She drew it tight and followed the path of a Chitauri driver. The arrow made its mark and the vehicle crashed into the street, spinning and tumbling and turning to fire.

The young couple stopped dead like deer in the headlights and stared at the young woman. Ava watched them briefly. They cared so much for each other, for the welfare of the other person. They just wanted to stay together when the panic and the terror were trying to rip them apart. She smiled and drew another arrow. Her smile faded fast. Their city would burn and the chances were that they would get caught up in the battle before they got out. Ava sent her arrow into a Chitauri shooter. Maybe they would get out, and maybe they wouldn't. But they would have each other.

For the first time in a long time the young woman felt true loneliness. Loneliness without hope. It was bitter and burned right through her.

The hover craft whizzed by, their hum breaking through the sound of the Chitauri weapons whenever they passed over. The people were terrified. The sound was deafening. And the smell…nothing can ever prepare you for the smells of battle; the burning, the smoke, the weapons, and the people.

Ava stepped into the street with her bow in her hand. She approached a group of women who were huddled under their café table and tried to encourage one to her feet. The others broke their circle and screamed and yelled, not realising that the stranger was there to help.

Ava gently helped the woman up and looked at her carefully. "Get inside. Tell anyone you pass to get inside. Lock the doors and only open them for your own."

The woman's fear slowly faded. "Who are you?"

"A friend. Go. Get your friends and go." She would not see Loki kill them all. She would not let him kill them all.

The young woman looked up at STARK tower and saw the man on the landing pad, his full armour now apparent, the horns of his helmet gleaming in the sun. Maybe he could see her down on the ground, but if he did he made no effort to get her and bring her back inside.

A red figure landed on the balcony and Ava felt her heart catch itself. It had to be Thor. He was alive. He had survived the fall and now he would be there to make sure his brother survived his own plummet.

The ground nearby exploded and Ava did not see Loki leap out at his brother and initiate an attack. She was knocked from her feet and landed hard on her hip. The women from the table screamed and huddled yet again. Ava yelled at them to move and they did. They moved like rabbits, going here and there very fast and then disappearing into a store in the blink of an eye.

High above Thor was confronting his brother.

"Loki! Turn off the Tesseract or I will destroy it."

"You cant, there is no stopping it." Loki pointed his staff at the god of thunder.

"Where is Ava?" Thor Clanged around.

Loki hesitated.

"Is she in the city, Loki?"

The man clenched his jaw and glared at the world below. He didn't say anything. He didn't need to.

"Stop this now, Loki." Thor's expression became concerned. If anything happened to Ava his brother would not forgive himself. He could see the whole world destroyed but he could not comprehend her gone. It was perhaps the only true and selfless part of him left.

"There is no stopping it." Loki replied as he turned back to Thor. "There is only the war." The poison in him was strong and overwhelmed what he thought to be true and right and left behind only a determined, bitter, resentful man.

"So be it." Thor spat.

His brother launched at him, staff pointed and at the ready. Thor deflected the attack that came at him and engaged his brother; a blast from Mjǫlnir was cast aside and hit the sigh on the tower. Giant letters plummeted to the ground to add to the chaos.

Ava ducked under a Chitauri craft as it took itself low and through the street. She followed its course quickly and set an arrow into the soldier standing on the back. The fallen alien landed in front of a group of well dressed people who were running aimlessly in their now unkempt suits.

They all turned quickly to see who had dropped the enemy. It was one of many but to them…they looked at her as if she had saved them all. That was until the next driver came close enough for his passengers to fire upon them, scattering their group like leaves in the wind.

Ava heard a buzzing that was not of the enemy. She looked up to see a black plane whiz over the city, the same type that had taken her from the place she had found Loki to the floating fortress. The young woman smiled as she watched it hurtle around and open fire on the enemy. All of a sudden she didn't feel so desperate, didn't feel like she was drowning anymore. The young woman hadn't gone out with the intention of killing every single Chitauri but that's what it had felt like. And if that was what she had to do to bring Loki back…

But it wasn't all about that. It didn't feel so selfish anymore. If it had been she would still be in that building fighting Loki. Maybe it was because she knew she could not stop it all without them, because for the first time she was admitting that she needed help. That she was not in control. Maybe. And maybe that was just as selfish, but at least it had a lower detriment rate.

There was a loud bang and the sound of rubble crumbling to the ground. The smell of overheated metal sifted through the air. Ava lifted her arm above her head as a blast of heat shot toward her. The hum of the plane have vanished. The young woman looked up and saw that it had crashed not far from where she was, only a few streets in front of STARK tower.

The back opened and Steve Rodgers ran out in his Captain America uniform, followed quickly by Natasha and a man Ava had not seen before. The group ran a short distance before stopping dead in their tracks. They were all looking up, mouths agape, eyes wide. At first the Asgardian thought they were looking at the portal, but then she saw the surprise and horror on their faces and turned to look herself.

An enormous creature covered in armour plating swam from the hole in the sky. It was as big as a whale and moved like a shark. The young woman ran up to the small team that had just arrived and reached them as the beast floated over the top of them, literally swimming through the sky. Plate of armour fell away from its side and Chitauri leapt from behind them and onto buildings and into the street.  
"Hey." Natasha said under her breath when she noticed Ava beside her.

"Yeah…" Was the quiet reply. Their eyes were still on the flying monster.

Rodgers spoke "Stark, you seeing this?"

They were all connected via ear piece. Ava couldn't hear the reply until Natasha silently handed her a device of her own. She had known that the blonde would come; or at least hoped she would.

The sounds around them did not drown out Natasha's voice. "Glad you could make it."

Ava smiled briefly and tried to put the object in properly. She had no idea what it was and was just trying to replicate what she saw on the others, but suddenly there was a voice in her ear.

Tony Stark was speaking about Banner turning up. So Bruce had left and Loki had won that battle. Only now was the young woman piecing together what had happened after she had left the ship; Thor had survived, as had the other members of the team, they were here to protect their earth, and…for some reason, she was standing beside them and not sitting beside Loki as events unfolded.

She wondered what was happening up there between the brothers. If Thor was getting through or not. If Loki was still the man she knew, if that part of him still survived, he would look upon the city with horror and feel a great deal of shame. And no doubt he would swallow it so he didn't have to feel, so he could continue to lie and lie and lie to himself. It made her furious.

High up on STARK tower Thor was indeed getting through to Loki. They were engaged in combat, holding each other off, wrapped in the other's weapon.

"Look at this! Look around you! You think this madness will end with your rule?" The blonde was angry and determined. Loki held Thor's hammer at bay as his brother yelled in his face.

The man spoke after searching the skyline and seeing only fire and smoke, hearing only screams and breaking, and smelling only death. His face could never lie and he was scared and he wanted to stop it. "It's too late. It's too late to stop it."

"No." Thor softened. He had seen the boy he grew up with again. He had seen his brother in this man. Seen him cowering in a dark corner. "We can. Together."

The other man smiled in sadness, then in joy, and then he abandoned himself completely and drove a small knife through the plating of his brother's armour. Thor fell away and dropped to his knees.

"Sentiment." Loki mocked lowly.

The god of thunder rose and threw a punch at the stranger before him. Loki caught it only to be kicked back and hauled into the air. Thor lifted his brother above his head before slamming him into the ground. Instead of getting up to fight the god of mischief simply rolled off the edge of the tower and latch onto a passing group of Chitauri hover craft.

Ava turned to the group and found a hand in front of her. The strange man stood with an offer of friendship.

"Barton." He introduced himself and nodded to her weapon.

"Ava." The young woman clicked the man's name with that of one of those that Loki had captured with the power of the Tesseract. "I am so sorry for what Loki did to you."

"Not as sorry as he's going to be." His silent, steady demeanour was a little unsettling but Natasha smiled and the Asgardian had to acknowledge that perhaps she had missed a joke, or a whole relationship. "So you're here and he's elsewhere. What does that mean? Have you left him?"

"We're having a bit of an argument." Ava added bluntly.

"I bet you are." Barton's tone was slightly apologetic. "Loki needs –."

There was no time to complete the sentence. A wave of Chitauri washed over them, dropping soldiers and opening fire as they went. Natasha fired back with a pair of pistols and while Clint Barton drew his bow. Ava saw the way they worked together, two individual units functioning flawlessly. The young woman shot her own weapon and watched as it speared through the head of a Chitauri driver, the craft it had been in control of dropped to the ground and rolled viciously before grinding to an explosive halt.

Natasha tapped Ava's arm to let her know that they were all moving to cover. She followed as they moved forward and onto a small overpass, her knives coming out as she began to realise she would not have enough arrows if she used them on every enemy she saw.

Cars were hit and flipped by the growing number of Chitauri attacks and rubble piles grew quickly. They couldn't fight them like this forever and they all knew it. The little team crouched down beside a car in a small pocket of peace. They took everything in.

Ava saw things like a warrior would. She saw enemies and friends, advantages and disadvantages, risks that were worth taking, and those that weren't. If only life were as simple as the perception of battle. But the other's saw more. Saw through the eyes of humans watching their own.

"We've got civilians trapped in that bus." Barton spoke to the group as Steve joined them in cover.  
Captain America seemed not to have heart. He stood as an enemy craft shot overhead. Ava saw it to and stood with him. A shot of green, a gleam of gold. She prayed it wasn't him.

"Loki." Rodgers spoke.

The young woman watched as the man she loved rode through the sky and took aim on those below. Rows of cars exploded, people scattered from their hiding places and ran. The force of his attacks were brutal and violent.

Ava sank down beside Natasha again and pressed her head against the car.

"You alright?" The red head asked.

"No." Was the blunt reply.

"We need you in this."

"So does he."

"Maybe so, but we asked first."

Ava smiled dully.

Rodgers glanced down. "We have bigger problems right now, ladies."

A group of Chitauri advanced through the rubble. Natasha stood and fired her pistols again, the noise exploding through the Ava's thoughts. The Russian and the archer took on the advancing enemy with a steady calm. It almost made the air stop buzzing. Their intent was right on the bus and clearing the way to it.

"We got this." The red head addressed Steve.

Captain America was desperate to get into the thick of things and lay down some order. "You think you can hold them off?"

Barton fiddled with his bow; his weapon obviously had settings that Ava's did not possess. And they seemed to give him great joy indeed. "Captain, it would be my genuine pleasure."

"With me." Rodgers turned to Ava and delivered an order.

"Why?"

"Because there's too much going on down there for one person. I need you to get the stragglers into cover – make them go into basements, subways; get them off the streets."

Ava did not know what a subway was, but she knew that there were plenty of stragglers and that they needed to be gone. The young woman nodded and followed the man as he leapt from the overpass and onto an abandoned bus below.

The man rushed toward a group of police cars that had gathered in the street. Captain America leapt over pieces of rubble and climbed over cars with a speed and agility only a trained soldier could possess. Ava was glad for all her training in Loki's absence because it meant she could not keep up with the man whereas before she would have easily fallen behind.

The young woman ducked and slid under a sudden onslaught of enemy fire and took cover behind a displaced piece of building. Her eyes searched for people and she found them easily. A little huddle cowered beside an overturned car. Rodgers had made it to the police group and had stopped on top of a vehicle to give orders. Ava did not see the Chautari swarm him; she only saw those that came at her.

The young woman got caught by a blast mid way through the group. It threw her into the rubble she had taken cover with and knocked the wind straight out of her. Her armour smoked but the skin beneath was fine. The girl gasped for air and ran straight at the enemy, leaping onto one of their tall frames and getting close enough to plant a knife through its back and into its heart. The alien dropped to the ground and Ava let its weight pull her weapon free before she sliced it around and across the eyes of the next attacker. It was a brutal thing. But no one was thinking about that in the moment.

Finally Ava got a chance to run to the small group under the car. They screamed and huddled closer when they saw her shadow approaching and went dead silent when they looked up to see an ally.

"Get inside, away from doors and windows and off the streets. Go down into the subway or into basements. You need to move. Take others with you."

The group stared blankly.

"Now." Ava raised her voice.

The little huddle rose and started a messy exit.

"Now!" The young woman yelled at them and their senses seemed to finally check back in.

Men in uniform started to seep into the street, grabbing people and pointing them away from the open air as they went. Steve had obviously made a point and was quickly heading back to the blonde.

"You okay?" He was slightly out of breath.

Ava straightened and realigned her hair. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"We need your head in this, Ava. Your heart would be good too but that would be asking too much, wouldn't it?"

"I don't think you'd want it right now anyway." Was the reply.

The man nodded. "We need to get back to Natasha and Barton."

And they did. The pair were being swarmed consistently, there wasn't a break to move people or even a moment to catch their breath. By the time Ava and Steve arrived the duo were covered in dust and sweat.

The Asgardian and The Solider had only just made it onto the scene when they were all given some breathing space. Lightening shot down from the sky and dropped the remaining Chitauri in the area. Thor quickly followed his strike and landed abruptly, his arm grasping on a twisted car as he rose with gritted teeth.

"What's the story upstairs?" Rodgers immediately approached the god of thunder.

"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable." The man was out of breath.

A voice came into Ava's head that was not her own. It still surprised her to hear Stark in her ear. "Thor's right. We need to deal with these guys."

"How do we do this?" Natasha looked up at the sky where little black craft whizzed overhead.

"As a team." Rodgers was seeing the same overwhelming force as the Russian was.

Thor, however, did not seem concerned. "I have unfinished business with Loki."

Barton glanced up as he screwed a new tip to an arrow. "Yeah? Get in line. "

They both blatantly ignored Ava after speaking their words. The young woman clenched her jaw but saw Thor coming toward her. He planted his hand on her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic look. He was glad for her presence and obviously knew that her business with Loki was the most unfinished of them all.

"Save it." Steve walked through the group. "Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need; without it these things could run wild. We've got Stark up top – he's going to need us to…." The man stopped as a new humming noise broke into the scene.

In came a truly unexpected site for all except Stark: Banner on a little motor bike in pants much too large for him. "So." He said in his usual slightly awkward tone. "This all seems horrible."

"I've seen worse." Natasha replied.

"Sorry." Banner was sheepish about his rage in the ship and the way he had attached the red head so openly.

"No." She replied. "We could use a little worse."

This made Bruce smile in a slightly happy, very concerned way.

"Stark, we got him." Rodgers spoke evenly.

Tony's voice came into Ava's head once again and caught her off guard. "Tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you."

The blonde looked up and saw the red and gold metal man shoot from behind a building with a trail of fire at his feet. What followed was even more astonishing; the giant beast that swam through the sky was following him, colliding with buildings as it went.

Thor grunted as a warrior should and gripped his hammer tightly. He glanced at Ava to make sure she was alright and ready. He saw her putting an arrow to the string of her bow and knew full well that her aim, when placed well, could do a lot of damage. Thor started to realise that this girl, this woman who he called sister, was capable and terrified and losing control very fast despite the determined look she consistently carried around.

But the matter still remained; the beast was coming at them with Thor at its head.

"I don't see how that's a party." Natasha mentioned offhandedly.

The creature went low, crushing cars and destroying the street as it went. Bruce stepped out and walked toward it.

"Doctor Banner." Rodgers addressed the man. "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."

The man turned with a smile and kept walking. "That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry."

Ava took a step back as the floating monster got closer and closer, the sound of its destruction becoming louder and louder, and the smell of its metal plates edging ever nearer. The step back was not warranted though. Banner turned to the creature and grew in size, his colour going from warm to green in a matter of seconds and the full Hulk becoming realised a moment before it was needed.

The second monster screamed and threw a punch at the approaching enemy, the throw making contact and the attacker sliding back under the force and weight of the creature. But then the Chitauri started to lift, to flip, to spin around over the Hulk, its armour coming free at the unusual motion.

"Hold on." Stark hovered above them and pointed his weapons systems at the opening.

The blast he sent landed on bared flesh and Ava felt Thor grab her and put his body between her and the explosion that resulted from Tony's attack. It was more for his conscience than anything else. The god of thunder raised his arm above his head and Ava did the same, but she noticed the humans ducking behind cars and under shields and realised that no matter how hard they fought they were more fragile than they would ever know.

The sound of wailing Chitauri rose above the din as their major attacker crashed to the ground, dead. The Hulk roared back at them as Tony came down to land among the team. They all prepared their weapons at the noise. Despite being surrounded by so many who wanted her there, Ava had never felt so alone or so hopeless. Despite the victory they just had she had never felt like she had lost more.

High above Loki was looking down at them. He was detached completely in his expression and his voice was empty as he spoke "send the rest".

* * *

_All quotes from the movie belong to Marvel and the makers of the Avengers.  
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I apologise for it being a bit late. Please let me know what you thought. :)  
Blessings,  
P. _


	12. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10  
**

* * *

Fights are not constant blood and gore and fire and grime. They have their pauses, moments that let you remember all of the horror and let you plan how to survive it. That's what the Avengers were doing, standing, observing, remembering, and planning.

It was silent amongst them. Ava rested the tip of her bow on the ground and rubbed the back of her neck restlessly. She wanted to stop and breathe, maybe even crawl into bed. But there was no time for that. Not until after.

"Guys…" Natasha held the trigger on her gun and stared at the sky. Ava followed her line of sight and dropped her hand to her side.

"Call it, Captain." Stark spoke as the rest of the group looked up and saw many more of the gigantic beasts swim through the portal and toward the city.

Rodgers stepped forward. "Alright, guys until we can close that portal up our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof – eyes on everything, calling out patterns and strays. Stark you've got the perimeter; anything gets more than three blocks out you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

Barton looked at Iron Man. "Give me a lift?"

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas." Without another word Stark took off upward with Clint firmly grasped in his metal hands.

Ava watched them shoot upward and was brought back to the group when Rodgers spoke again.  
"Thor, you've got to try and bottle neck that portal. Slow them down. You've got the lightening – light the bastards up" Steve acknowledged the god's nod of agreement and watched as his ally swing Mjǫlnir and lift into the sky.

"You and me" Steve looked at Natasha "we keep the fighting here on the ground." The man turned. "Hulk."

The beast whirled and growled, pausing to stare and see if there was reason to knock the star spangled captain out of his suit.

"Smash."

That reply made the beast grin and leap enthusiastically up at a building and immediately start crushing Chitauri and concrete together.

Steve put his finger to his earpiece. "Stark, come get Ava."

The blonde paused. "Are you side lining me?"

"No. I'm putting you with Barton but Thor wouldn't have allowed it."

"How do you know?"

"He told us about Jotunheim."

"Right." The young woman nodded with a small smile. "He probably didn't mention that Loki was actually the one who didn't want me fighting big battles."

"He did not." Was the light reply. "Welcome to the team, even if it's only as a visitor."

Before Ava could say another word a red and gold man shot through the streets and caught Ava up by the waist.

"Hang tight, Blondie."

Ava felt a vice like grip around her waist and upper arm. The impact had not been hard; Stark had been prepared for it. He and the Captain had apparently shared a small game plan that did not involve any potential distractions, any personal matters that could lead away from the fight.

Iron Man slowed and set Ava down on a rooftop beside Barton. He obviously knew what was going on because he greeted the woman with a general hello and continued to fire his weapon into the enemy.

"Thor is taking a battalion down on sixth." Banner mentioned to Stark.

"And he didn't invite me." Tony replied in light sarcasm before taking off.

"Aim for the front of the hover craft. It blows them up."

Ava strung an arrow to her bow. "Or the driver. Multi vehicle collisions are bound to happen."

Barton smiled as she let her arrow free and proved her theory correct. Two hover craft full of Chitauri went down, crumbling to the road below.

The blonde paused for a moment when a striking patch of green and gold appeared between buildings. She looked down her next shot and followed the movement. The world went silent as she tracked the hover craft, waiting for it to appear. When it did she relaxed her bow. There was Loki, riding around, keeping an eye on it all.

Barton saw her pause and followed her eye. "No. Ava. Stick to the plan."

The girl's gaze searched the rooftops and buzzing hovercraft. "I am sticking to the plan. My plan. You'll be fine." The young woman put her bow over her back. She hesitated a moment before removing her quiver of arrows and setting them down near Barton. "Just in case." She stopped again and pulled the earpiece out and set it down beside her arrows.

"Stop it." Barton fire upon the enemy, his jaw clenched at the girl. "Don't do this."

Ava pulled out her knives and clenched them firmly in her palms. "I've got to."

Her eyes were still locked on Loki. The young woman observed the enemy craft; saw the way there was no wheel, no way of steering other than a connection between the driver and the vehicle.

"Ava, stop." Barton moved toward her. It was too late though; the young woman stepped off the edge of their building and vanished into the battle. "Rodgers, we have a problem."

"What happened?" Captain America's voice came into the man's ear.

"Ava's gone AWOL. She left her earpiece."

"You didn't stop her?"

"I'm a little bit too busy to babysit, Cap."

Ava caught the bottom of a hover craft as she fell, her wrists and shoulders bore the brunt of the landing and yelled silently at her in protest. The young woman drove her knife into the foot of the Chitauri nearest to her. There were two and the first had just begun to scream. Clinging on with one arm the Asgardian grabbed the chain that held the wounded enemy to the craft and used it to haul herself up, causing the alien to land heavily on its back. Her knife came down on the Chitauri shooter's chest, its gun falling from the back of the hover craft as it died. Ava cut the chain and shoved into the streets below.

The girl blew a piece of hair out of her face and stood, clutching the edges of the vehicle as she moved forward toward the driver. The craft were driven by neural connection, by touch and thought. The driver had hardly noticed her as he went, his whole mind in on his task.

The young woman saw the muscles in the Chitauri's back, saw the lines down beside its spine. She drove her knives down, gripping tightly to them as she lifting herself up on the body so she could see better. Ava found that if she could control the vehicle through the relay she had created with the driver. It was a bad connection though and the already hard banking craft became more difficult to drive.

Ava felt a jolt run through her body as the back of the hover craft collected a building but she did manage to steer it low and over Natasha and Rodgers. The blonde met the Russian's eye. She was talking to Captain America and said something inaudible before stepping backwards. Steve looked up and saw Ava clinging to the body of a Chitauri driver and seemed to get the same idea that Natasha was forming, even if his expression was more concerned than hers.

The blonde saw Loki through the buildings again and began to steer herself toward him. A pain hit her in the back and sent her forward, tipping the craft toward the ground. The enemy had seen her and opened fire. Ava swerved sideways, zigzagging through the blasts that shot past her.

One blast hit a building in front and sent a shower of debris downward. The young woman banked upward and hard as she could and burst through a cloud of dust. She hit a few pieces of rubble on her way, one grazing the wound from the ship and reopening it so that blood seeped down from her hairline.

But there was Loki. Right there. He caught Ava's eye and seemed to stop in shock and horror. The young woman aimed right for him, their paths on a direct collision course. She would hit his vehicle side on and send it sprawling. But that wouldn't stop anything. It wouldn't do anything.

The young woman flinched as an enemy shot missed her by a few centimetres. She was seconds away from colliding with the god of mischief when she pulled her knives out and leapt up off the back of the dead Chitauri. The vehicle dropped away immediately and just missed the underside of Loki's vehicle.

Ava reached out and caught the side panel of the man's craft and caused it to veer sideways.

"What are you doing?" Loki yelled at her.

"What does it look like?" She called back over the sound of the wind blowing through her ears.

The young woman climbed up the side of the vehicle, wrapping her arm over the top the place Loki would have had his hands should he have been firing on the city at that moment. Her knife scraped against the inside of the craft and she dug the other into its side. Ava searched for a foothold and found her boots slipping on the smooth surface of the craft.

Loki didn't seem to know what to do.

"Stop this, Loki. Stop it now. It isn't too late." Ava looked up at him. "Help yourself. Be brave."

The man clenched his jaw and grabbed her wrist. He held her steady and watched her smile at his act, as he helped her. "I can't." He said quietly.

Ava saw him start to disappear into himself. It was like watching a light drift away down a hallway, seeing it get smaller and smaller and dimmer and dimmer until there was nothing left. But it had to still be there. Even if she couldn't see it. She had to try to get it back. She had to follow him.

"Loki, I love you. I really do. I made that choice a long time ago and I haven't changed my mind. People say there isn't a choice in love, that it just happens, but the further I get into this mess of yours the more I realise that I could just turn around and walk straight out." She raised her voice over the sound of the wind and the hum of the vehicle. Loki's eyes were locked onto her face.

Ava swallowed and continued to talk, her fingers aching with the grip she had on her knife, her arms aching as they clung to the vehicle. "I choose not to because I chose to love you. Many times I've heard that you can't help who you fall in love with – you can. My mother wanted me to fall in love with your brother, but I went after you. I chose you."

The craft wobbled around a corner and Ava felt Loki's grip tighten around her wrist. His other hand went to the side of the craft and held tight. She swallowed and glanced at the ground for a moment before continuing. Her hair was in her face and she was covered in dust but if one of them didn't walk out of the fight then she had to tell him the rest of their argument. The good parts. The truest parts.

"Loki, I picked you above all the rest and didn't say no when I imagined a future with you in it. That's why I'm here, Loki. Not because you cast some spell over me, but because I did. So be brave."

The man watched her as she clung desperately to him. He didn't say anything. He didn't have to. As the world whirled dangerously around her and she teetered on the brink of betrayal and trust. The man realigned himself and let her go. Ava felt her heart sink desperately, but then his touch returned. He grasped her above the elbow, his touch firmer and steadier than before. He meant to bring her up onto the craft and that was going to be an exceedingly difficult task.

At that time Natasha whizzed past on a craft. She clung to a driver just as Ava had. The red head glanced back at the couple a moment too soon; the back of her vehicle nicked the front of Loki's and sent it swerving sideways.

Ava glanced at the path. The vehicle was moving into her, its force pinning her to its side. Suddenly there was the sound of crumbling concrete and brick. The young woman heard the contact and felt the jolt rush through her as she was ripped unceremoniously from the vehicle and sent tumbling across the face of a building.

No one could have held onto her. Not even The Hulk. The pain in her elbow suggested that Loki had tried. The young woman didn't see the god of mischief's craft straighten and whiz away after Natasha, opening fire as it went. She saw the building up close as her body continued forward and downward and a sickeningly fast rate.

The girl landed on her side. The vehicle that cushioned her was crushed under the force. Ava curled up as chunks of the building fell around her. She gasped for air as the shock left her and stayed in her little ball even after the air became quiet.

Suddenly everything rushed back. The sound of people moving, of policemen and firemen moving civilians burst into the young woman's head. She released her vice grip on her knives and flexed her fingers before taking the weapons up again. The young woman groaned as she moved and sat up. She lowered herself to the ground, steadying her way with a grip on the car.

Ava blessed the man who made her armour, and her father for having it adjusted after the last time Loki went rogue. It felt like she would need a lot of back ups if she was going to survive him. But he had been there for a second. Every time she saw him, the true him that she knew and loved, she could take a step forward into the darkness. She knew where he was. Knew how far away he was. And they were getting closer. So much closer.

Ava shook her head and took a deep breath. "Okay." She exhaled.

The knife that she had embedded into Loki's craft had snapped when they hit the building and was a little over half its counterpart's length. The grunt of Chitauri made that realisation more relevant than before.

Ava whirled around just in time to drive her blade into the nearest enemy. People screamed nearby and police opened fire. The young woman felt bruised all over but the Asgardians were made of tougher stuff than humans. They could take more. They could do more.

And they rarely admitted how mortal they really were.

Ava fought the enemy off with all she had left. She got to a point where all she could hear was the sound of her own breath entering and leaving her system. A blow from the behind threw her onto her knees and a blast above showered the street with glass.

The young woman smelled the gunpowder from the police and the bitter sweat of the Chitauri. She smelled the oil in the tarmac and the blood on the streets. Ava buried her broken knife into the knee of an attacker and swung the other around, dropping two as she clambered to her feet. She was hit from the side and crumbled back down. A blow to the shoulder sent her knife sprawling.

The young woman reached into her boot and pulled out a small dagger. She felt her ring against its cold hilt and paused. She should hate him so much. So much. But she didn't. She couldn't bring herself to hate him even a little bit. She had gone looking for him and she had found him. It didn't matter that he had become lost again because she had found him. She would do it again. She could do it again.

Ava felt a Chitauri kick her onto her back. She stabbed him in the foot and hauled his weapon from his hands. The woman opened fire on the enemies that swarmed around her. She didn't know that the others were having similar struggles, she just knew that they were together in it all.

It was treacherous to believe that these hero's were more than people. Perhaps Thor was in a technical sense, but they all possessed such humanity, such individuality. They had to be seen as more than people because without that belief they could not rise to the occasion.

Ava fired the weapon a number of times, hitting any who aimed back at her before they could make another blow.

One of the Chitauri noticed this, noticed her tactic to down any who were about to fire upon her. So he took a different approach. The enemy shifted his weapon and took a quick step forward. Ava turned to him and opened fire a split second to late. The tip of the object made contact with her side and the weight of the dead Chitauri drove it home. Her armour held up for a moment, bending and flexing against the force. Then it started to crack and shiver, the gold plating began to split open and the leather beneath waned. It gave way very quickly.

Ava felt the cold of the metal piece her skin. She felt her ribs crack; felt the soft parts of her separate away from the blow. It was so quick. So deft. The weapon buried itself into her and she gasped in pain and in absolute shock. The roar of Tony Stark's engines passed overhead accompanied by the louder hum of the missile he was carrying. Ava blinked weakly and saw him flit overhead and vanish behind some buildings.

The woman swallowed hard and pulled the weapon from her body. The Chitauri were still coming at her. The young woman whimpered and clutched her side. She struggled to her feet, stumbling backwards and away from the fight. The sound of police guns burst through her head and the closest enemies to the girl dropped dead. The woman fell and got up again, couching and gasping as she went. Ava went for the enemy that had her broken knife embedded in its knee and pulled it out, she found the other not far away. Ava clutched the weapons awkwardly and pushed herself back against the car she had landed on. It was so hard to breathe. So painful to draw air. She felt tears of agony slip down her face, clearing the dust away.

A dribble of blood slipped between her lips and she wiped it away. The Chitauri drove forward against the police. Ava searched the skyline for STARK tower and saw it only a block away. Loki would be there. She smiled at the thought of him. The man she loved would be there. Away from all the horrors of battle. She worried if he was hurt, if he was alone, if he would ever come out of it. But Ava knew he would come home, she knew he had it in him.

The young woman used the car to help her to her feet and faced the Chitauri one more time. Before they reached her they all dropped down dead. Just fell to the ground like rag dolls. The police fire stopped dead. The whole world went silent.

Then Ava's world became even quieter. She dropped to her knees, her knives clattering soundlessly to the pavement. Her eyes were still and her breath shallow and full of blood.

A pair of arms caught her and she cried out in agony. She felt the grip adjust and ease her onto her back. Quickly she was on her hurt side. The young woman didn't know they were trying to keep her airwaves clear or that they were trying to help. It didn't even register that she was whimpering pain, or that a police officer, covered in her blood, was saying soft, kind things to her. He called his team members over and one of them quickly took their shirt off, leaving an undershirt to protect them from the smog and fire. The police officer pressed the shirt to the open wound on the girl's side. She went quiet, her fingers gripping the man's arm so hard he thought her knuckles might open from the pressure.

It all started to spark brightly. Ava blinked hard and took as deep a breath as she could. It was wet and warm inside her body. She could feel it. Wet and warm.

She hoped Loki would get home. She mouthed his name over and over again as if it would help with the pain. The young woman only wanted to see him. Just him. The true him. The man she had seen in his eyes before things had taken a turn for the worse for her. The man she had slept beside. The man she knew the touch of, whose taste she had memorised, and whose smell always made her feel safe. That man. She believed in him. She had gone to find him. And in the end he had come to find her too.

* * *

_So we find ourselves at the end of another chapter.  
I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought.  
As per usual all Avengers quotes go to Marvel and the makers of the movie.  
_

_Blessings,  
P.  
_


	13. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

No one ever really tells you about the smell after a battle. The smoke, the blood, the sweat…it all mixes together into a grey scent. They don't tell you about the sounds either; the screaming, the sobbing, the laughing, the sirens.

Ava could taste dust in her mouth, the pulverised pieces of buildings and homes that all mingled together in the aftermath. Her ears rang and she couldn't even hear herself gasping for breath anymore. Her head had never hurt so much in her life and her fingers had never felt so cold.

Some man was holding a cloth to her side. It was the second one so far; the first, a shirt, had been soaked through in blood and was now laying in the middle of the street.

Ava watched STARK tower. She had seen Tony land there not long ago. She was surprised that he could fly seeing as the police officer said he went into the portal and fell out, that if the Hulk hadn't been there to catch him he would have died. So monsters can save lives after all.

Loki would be up there facing the shame and anguish of defeat. She wished she could be there so that at least one person wasn't looking down on him. She would be furious, devastated, confused, torn up…but he would be there. After this kind of beating he had to be there. They had to have knocked the rest out of him.

Ava gasped sharply and the police officer apologised.

The young woman tugged at the top of her armour, against the high gold collar that was now digging into her neck. The whole thing came together down the back and peeled off. She needed it off.

Ava reached behind her with the arm opposite to her injury and managed to unclip the bottom few clasps. She closed her eyes and felt as if she would drown in her own blood. It dripped from the fingers of her other hand, it stuck her hair to her face, it filled the inside of her armour. There was so much of it. No one realises how much blood they have, not until their life itself starts to dribble out.

Ava swallowed and tried to ignore it. The hand of the police officer covered hers as it tried once again to loosen the garment around her body. The man knew that there wouldn't be an ambulance in time, if an ambulance could even help. She wasn't from earth, she could take more than any human could and by human standards would have died long ago. The hospitals would be overflowing by now and they didn't have that kind of time.

The man clenched his jaw and let her hand go. She was trembling with the pain and making hardly a noise beyond the occasional whimper. The officer found the undone clasps and undid a few more, pausing when Ava tensed. It took a minute or so but eventually the armour opened fully down her spine and could peel off the uninjured side of her body.

The young woman had been wearing a black singlet underneath but it was now, as blood filled the gaps it the fabric, it was a dark shade of burgundy.

Ava felt the man easing her up gently to move the armour from under her side. With a bit of soft manoeuvring he managed to get it off her completely and lay it aside. He glanced at the item and saw that the beautifully crafted metal had been shattered where she had been hit. That all the pieces didn't come together right and that broken pieces of Asgardian gold would be laying in the street or embedded in the girl's side.

Ava met the man's eye. She would have said thank you if she could, and he knew. His voice hit her very suddenly. Like a whack in the head. It came in over the pain unexpectedly and after the initial surprise, it was soothing and peaceful.

"My name is Hunter." He said evenly. "I'm a police officer. I saw what you did. You fell right out of the sky and into a car and I thought you were a jumper. But you got up and you started fighting and I had to laugh out loud at how stupid it was; it was like slapstick comedy, you know? Where a character is always getting hurt and then going on and getting hurt some more because they're a total twit and don't know when to stop." He watched the girl smile. "I've never seen anyone fight like you, never seen anyone come back after a hit like you. You're one of them, aren't you? One of the aliens? Not the ones that we fought but the other ones?"

Ava nodded smally, still smiling at his young voice. He was so terrified but he kept trying to smile.

"I didn't think you'd look so much like us. You do but you don't. You've got all the right pieces but you're all so much more beautiful. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen and if we weren't sitting here trying to keep you from bleeding out I might ask you on a date. We could go see a movie and go dancing. Something simple, you know?"

Ava wanted to laugh. And then she wanted to cry. If she had met a man like him instead of Loki then where would she be? Alive and whole on a beach in Asgard, swimming and riding and simply loving. She had done that before. It always led to something more…but there was always that. Always the beauty of it all, always that hope.

"I bet you've got a cool name." Hunter continued, trying not to cry as he watched the girl watch him. "Something like Sigyn. Something with a 'y' and a 'g' in it. I'm named after an outdoor activity so I guess I cant really tease you about your name, can I?"

Ava listed as the voice wavered. She saw the ground behind the man fill with a gold and red figure. She saw Stark's face as he lifted his visor and addressed the young man.

"We thought you couldn't work the elevator, Blondie." Tony said as he stepped up and paused, exhaling at the sight of her. "If only that were the case." He spoke into his suit. "JARVIS, prep the medical suite."

"You have a medical suite?" Hunter was glancing up at the man in awe.

"I've got pieces of shrapnel trying to rip my heart to shreds, hell yeah I have one." Stark knelt down beside Ava. He took her in slowly. "Its okay, Blondie. Thor is going to be so, so very mad at you."

Ava smiled weakly before coughing a gurgly cough.

"What happened?"

Hunter looked at the Avenger. "They swarmed her. She couldn't hold them off. No one could have."

Tony turned to the police officer. "Is she hurt elsewhere?"

"Not that I know of."

"Keep the pressure there, I'm going to pick her up."

Hunter nodded and apologised to Ava before increasing his hold over her wound. The girl felt the sharp pain in her side increase before she was lifted from the ground. Her injury was wedged against Stark's suit, another shirt applied between them just in case.

"STARK Tower." Tony said to the man and gave him an elevator code and floor number. "You'll want to see her cleaned up."

"Is she going to…" The man was standing now.

Stark didn't reply. He closed his helmet and took off as gently and as quickly as he could.

The man spoke into his suit. "Banner, you back yet?"

"Here."

"You've found some clothes?"

"Yes. Where are you?"

"Coming now. Go down a floor, you'll find a medical suite." Tony paused. "And tell Loki he's an asshole."

"He knows."

"He's going to know even more when I get back." Stark looked at Ava whose lips were slowly turning blue and whose eyes were starting to shut. "Hey." He squeezed her slightly. "Stay awake. You cant miss the party."

Ava wheezed and blinked hard. The wind on her face was refreshing and she wanted so badly just to go to sleep with that feeling. She was so tired now.

One of Stark's hands disappeared from under her and a blast was fired from his palm. He opened a way into his own building, landing on the shattered glass as he went.

The young woman felt the wind stop. Smelled her own blood and the cleanness of some room. The sort of room where clean metal sits, where water is always available, and where plastic gloves are compulsory.

Banner was the first to see her. Her eyes were dark and exhausted and her skin had lost its summer hue. He instantly pulled on a pair of gloves and stood behind a long metal table.

"I'm not a medical doctor, Stark."

Tony lifted his visor once again. "Good." The man looked at Ava's face. "We're going to need a lot more than that."

The elevator dinged open all of a sudden and out poured Thor with an angry, concerned expression. He stopped dead when he saw Stark lowering Ava onto the table, his suit covered in her blood. Rodgers hurried out after the god.

"Thor, you need to stay…" He strayed off.

"Steve, hand, now." Tony said flatly. "I have to get out of this suit."

"Right." Captain America quickly took the other man's place and applied a steady pressure to the bundle against the girl's side.

"I'll be right back. Come with me, Point Break." Tony took Thor by the arm and felt the man was immovable. "Thor, now is not the time."

The blonde blinked and swallowed before following the man into the elevator. They rode up a floor and found Loki still sitting on the steps, bruised and battered but somehow very controlled. The man looked up as the pair walked in and his face dropped immediately at the sight of blood on Iron Man's suit.

Stark pointed at him. "You're an asshole."

"Oh my god" Natasha said from a place nearby. "What happened?"

Stark didn't reply. He simply walked through the penthouse. Thor walked right up to his brother and hauled him to his feet.

"What…" Loki looked past the god of thunder and toward the elevator. "Is she…"

"She's dying, Loki. She's dying because of you."

"Dy…" the man choked on the word. A line of red grew around his eyes as they widened, his mouth failed to close. The façade dropped.

"In all my years of battle…" Thor tightened his grip on the man.

Barton pushed the blonde away. "Hey, steady now. We all want to kill him but not over this."

"Yes over this. Ava is a sister to me and she might as well have been a wife to him. And he repaid that loyalty and love with blood and betrayal."

Loki flinched and pulled away, sinking back to the stairs as his knees grew weak. Never had he thought of losing her. Never had he imagined it. It was too terrifying to think about. What was even worse was the thought of her dying at his hand. Dying because he couldn't, because he wouldn't…

Natasha was pacing and stopped quickly when Tony reappeared in regular clothes. "How bad is it?"

The man pursed his lips and looked around the room. "Very." He looked at the brothers. "Come with me."

"You're taking him down there?" Barton said disapprovingly.

"Either the sight of Loki will give her a bit more to hold onto or reason to go quicker." Stark stepped toward his elevator. "Either way it will be better for her."

"That's not appropriate." Natasha said flatly.

"You come too and see just how appropriate it is."

The elevator ride down was intense. Never before had so many different despairing thoughts been crammed into such a tiny little space. Thor was the first out again, this time with his hand on his brother's arm. He hauled the man out toward the table Ava lay on.

Her shirt had been peeled up and Steve Rodgers was carefully dabbing a damp cloth to the edges of the wound as Banner pulled a piece of gold out with a pair of tweezers.

Ava had a tube down her throat and was completely under, her breathing taken from her by a machine and her consciousness taken from her by a needle that was still embedded in her arm. A drip worked over time.

"Shouldn't she be getting blood?" Natasha said at the sight of the dark pool on the floor.

"We dont know what type she is….if she is a type." Banner replied.

Thor, still clutching his brother's arm, carefully stepped toward the patient. Ava looked like she was in an immense amount of pain, even in her anesthetised state. Loki took a step past Thor toward her face. He clenched his jaw and extended a hand. No one tried to stop him.

His fingers met her hairline and he gently pushed a few strands back. Banner paused and watched as the man who had told a whole army to invade their planet dropped to his knees over a girl. The man turned back to his work.

"What have we got?" Stark asked.

"The impact was vertical to the ribs and has broken at least three." Banner said.

JARVIS spoke over the man. "One of the ribs is shattered; sir and the other two are indeed broken. The weapon punctured her lung but there was shrapnel embedded in the tissue."

"So here we are." Banner said as he pulled another piece of metal out. "You guys should really re-think how you decorate your armour."

Thor stood over his brother. "Asgardian heelers will fix any breaks and scars. Just save her."

Loki was staring at the floor, at the puddle of blood beside Rodger's feet. "Don't go where I can't follow." He said under his breath. If she died now he would not be able to go to her. The gates of heaven did not open for men like him. "Do not go where I cannot follow."

No one could hear him as he pressed his head against the side of the table. Loki turned to look at his brother and was brought to his feet the moment their eyes made contact. Thor drew the man close. It was the first time he had seen his brother, truly his brother, in a very long time.

0.0.0

Hunter sat awkwardly with the Avengers in Tony Stark's penthouse. Thor was sitting with his elbow son his knee's, his hands pressed against each other and then to his mouth, his scowl deep. Natasha leant against a partially whole pillar that overlooked the balcony while Barton sat on a couch nearby. Rodgers, Stark, and Banner were all still below. Loki had become dark and distant, pulling himself together with everything he had left, his eyes locked on the strange human opposite him. The strange human who had arrived covered in her blood. Who was there when he wasn't.

"I'm sorry, but could you stop looking at me like that." The police officer mentioned.

Thor glanced at his brother. "Loki." He said flatly.

The god of mischief blinked and returned the glance.

Natasha stepped upright from the pillar. They had all been cleaned and patched where necessary and were now waiting. Just waiting to see what news there would be. Thor had given blood and JARVIS had analysed it against Ava's. Luckily they had been a match. No one had even asked Loki. They had sent him from the room long before.

The god of thunder had given as much of himself as he could before he began to feel light headed. Then he said he would give more, yelled that he would, but was sent back after his brother.

Before he left he stood over Ava. "We're blood now. You've got Odinson blood in you now, so do it proud."

That had been hours before. The man glanced at the police officer.

"Thank you." Thor spoke into the silence. "Thank you for helping her."

"You'd have all done it." Hunter replied.

"I wish that were true." Natasha lifted her voice.

"So, who is she?"

"The daughter of a great warrior." Thor leant back, his scowl still apparent. "She wasn't supposed to be here. She must have made some sort of deal."

"What is her name?"

The god of thunder opened his mouth but the elevator opened first. Banner stepped out, wiping his hands on a damp cloth. He looked utterly exhausted. The room came to attention. Bruce pursed his lips but managed a small smile and a nod.

Everyone exhaled.

"The damage is extensive." The man spoke to Thor. "When you get her to Asgard you need to send her straight to your healers. She only made it through because of you."

The blonde nodded.

"Is she awake?" Natasha asked.

Banner nodded.

The red head went to his side and smiled. "Well done, doctor."

"Yeah." He returned the smile awkwardly. "Thanks."

Loki was now standing. "Where is she?"

"You're in no position to ask that." Barton stood too. "Sit down."

The god of mischief looked at the archer and didn't move. "She is my wife."

"She is not your wife, Loki." Thor said flatly. "And if she was she wouldn't be once we got home. You don't deserve that kind of relationship."

The man clenched his jaw and met the eye of the police officer. Stark stepped out of the elevator.

"She's asking for him." He eyed Loki. "Come on, Reindeer Games. You've got five minutes."

Thor went over to the police officer and gave him a warm pet on the back. The man never asked her name again.  
0.0.0

Ava lay in a crisp bed in a spare room. The drip still sunk into her arm and she still had dark circles around her eyes but there was no blood on her face or under her nails. The girl wore one of Pepper Pott's shirts, long sleeved and soft. Her skin nearly faded into the white sheets.

Loki carefully stepped into the room and saw that she was resting, not sleeping. Her eyes were just closed and he could tell. He had seen her resting so many times, held her as she did it…

The girl opened her eyes and smiled tiredly. "You're alive." Were the first words she spoke to him.

Loki almost laughed. "I could say the same for you." He stayed at the end of the bed, his hands behind his back.

She wheezed painfully and held her side. "Its good to have you back, Loki."

The man frowned sadly. "Is this what it took?"

"If only." Ava replied. There was a long, long way to go yet. She held out the hand that wasn't resting over her wound.

The man crossed to her side and sat carefully down, her hand filled his softly. He pushed the hair from her face. "I am so sorry."

"No more lies, Loki."

The man looked into her eyes; they were still the colour of the stormy seas in Asgard. "We'll go home soon."

Ava nodded. "That will be nice."

"Do you still want a house with a view of the mountains and the sea? Do you still want a son named for your brother?"

"I do." She replied. "But you don't. Not anymore."

Loki looked down at their hands.

"Shhh." She stopped him from speaking. "We're different now, you and I. Still so much the same but so much inside has changed. Why do you think I followed after you? I couldn't let you get so far from me without at least trying to stay close."

"You shouldn't have. You should have let me go."

Ava shook her head. "What sort of person would I be if I let go when it got hard?" Her words were laboured now. It was getting harder and harder to breathe again. "You would die for me, wouldn't you?"

"Yes."

She could see it was the truth. "Then why are you so scared that I would do the same?" Ava reached up and wiped a tear from under his eye. Her fingers slid below his chin and drew him close so she could kiss him.

It was not a healthy relationship. It was one where her friends would have told her to run, to get as far away as she possibly could. It was one that could destroy her and not in a good way. But it didn't have to be. Neither of them wanted it to be. Maybe it was time to leave him. Maybe that time had passed a very long time ago. Too few people fought for love anymore, too few battled for enduring relationships, so the few fought even harder, even longer, and in even more gruelling battles to continually prove that it was possible to make it last – even when perhaps it shouldn't.

Stark stood in the door with Thor and shared a look with the god of thunder. "Have you tried to stop this?"

"This is the second time she has nearly died for him." The man replied. "I will speak with her when we get back to Asgard."

"And Loki?"

"He will be tried under Asgardian Justice."

There was a long pause. "She got lucky."

"So did he."

* * *

_Yay! Its finally here! Sorry this chapter took so long, I had one hell of a week.  
I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought. :)  
Remember that you can always contact me via my tumblr._

Blessings,  
P.  



	14. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

* * *

The night it all ended was the night The Avengers went for shawarma. Ava was unable to go and Thor was hesitant to leave her. The god of thunder eyed the young woman as she lay in bed and slept. They were all exhausted but she was exhausted and injured and the man did not wish to even risk waking her. She had nearly died and it had been terrifying. Thor had not realised how much he appreciated the young woman until he nearly lost her. He did not love her in a romantic way, and that would probably never work anyway – she was too stubborn and he was too protective. No. He loved her like a sister. He loved her as he loved Loki.

"We're about to go, Point Break." Stark spoke evenly to the Asgargian.

"I do not think I should go." Thor replied as he leant against the door frame to Ava's room. "I do not think she should be left alone."

"Selvig is here. And JARVIS; I can get him to download some babysitting stuff for you if you want?"

"And Loki?"

"We can chain him to a lamp post outside the joint if you want?"

"He's still my brother, not a dog." Thor's tone had a slight warning to it, but also a bit of a smile.

The sound of Erik Selvig's footsteps alerted the pair to the man's presence. He was wringing his hands nervously and had a rather large bruise on his head from the impact that had knocked him out of Loki's control. "I am sorry to bother you, but I wanted to apologise."

"Selvig…" Thor went to stop the man.

"No. No. Part of me must have been aware of what was going on and that part didn't try to break the hold of the spell."

"You allowed us to close the portal."

"Yes, maybe. All the same – I am sorry for any part I had in…this." His eyes strayed to Ava. She was still very pale and still.

Thor put a hand on the man's shoulder. "You are my friend, Selvig. I will not lie to you and I am not lying when I say that there is nothing for you to apologise for."

The greying man smiled. "Thank you." He turned to Stark. "Are you going yet? You deserve a bit of a trip out."

"We're all so tired I think it will become a slumber party." Tony mentioned. "Though you are all staying here so I guess it is a slumber party already." He shrugged. "Come on, Point Break. Blondie will be fine."

"And Loki?" Selvig asked carefully.

"I get the idea that he wont try to run." Thor stated blankly. "He's been very cooperative."

"Well Banner did beat the crap out of him."

"Asgardian's heal fast. If he wanted to leave he would try. Loki is a master of sorcery; he could get away if he really wanted to."

"So what's stopping him?" Stark looked down the hall, knowing that the man in question was sitting on his sofa in a pair of Asgardian hand-cuffs. He could move about and had most of the use of his arms, but the point was clear – he was not there as a friend, or as an enemy. He was a prisoner.

"I don't know." Thor scowled.

"Well…no point dwelling on it. Come on, you're making everyone late." Stark started toward the living room again and saw the blonde watching Ava with a tense jaw. "She'll be fine."

Thor exhaled steadily through his nose before following. "Look after her, Erik." He said to Selvig.

The man nodded and glanced at the girl. "I will."

"And feel free to let JARVIS help you put the Tesseract transport module together." Tony said over his shoulder.

It would take a little while for the Tesseract's power to become harnessed for transport. The work that had gone into it in order to open the portal had been undone when the gaping hole in the sky had closed but fortunately the Avengers now had Selvig to aid them.

The doctor was more than ready to see Loki off his planet. He had spent much of his time in the STARK penthouse watching the god of mischief, making sure he couldn't put him under another spell. Loki found it a little amusing, and very defeating. But perhaps that was what he wanted – he was much too comfortable with it all.

The man watched his brother silently as he passed through the living room toward the door. He knew Loki would not leave without Ava, and she could not move all that much. Even so…the god of mischief was uncomfortably…relaxed.

Ava stirred vaguely and saw Selvig standing in her doorway. She smiled quietly.

The man paused, he had been about to walk away but he turned back. "Do you need anything?"

"A new set of ribs would be nice." Was the soft reply.

Erik laughed. "I don't think we can do that here yet."

Ava held her arm carefully over her hurt side. "You're Selvig, are you not? Thor speaks very warmly of you."

"Oh. Well maybe he shouldn't anymore."

The young woman watched the man go crestfallen. "No one is going to hold you responsible for that." She struggled to get the words out easily as her breath grew short on just a few sentences.

Selvig stepped into the room. "You are probably the only person in the whole universe who could love Loki."

"You haven't met his mother." Ava smiled. The expression faded quickly. "He hasn't been himself for a very long time."

Erik stepped awkwardly up to the bedside. "I know you want to believe the best in people…but, Ava, he's killed countless people and used mind control to manipulate…" he clenched his jaw.

The young woman looked at the pattern on her covers for a moment. She frowned. "I know."

"I don't want to intrude on your life, but this is not a healthy relationship. He is not healthy."

"Would you abandon someone you loved if they got sick?"

"It's not the same. The sick people I have known haven't ended up destroying a large part of Manhattan."

"The longer people believe that way about Loki, the longer he will remain as he is."

Erik Selvig exhaled. "He should consider himself very lucky."

Ava nodded and smiled. Her eyes drifted up and over the shoulder of the man. A strange woman stood behind him in a fine business suit and a concerned expression.

"Hi, Tony said you'd probably be in here. Though I'd be happier if you were watching the strange man on my sofa." Her voice was not smooth, but it was calming.

"Miss Potts" Selvig turned. "You're finally back. We didn't expect you for a few more hours."

"I've learned a few things from Mr Stark."

"And he has learned more from you I'm sure."

Ava glanced between the two. The woman noticed and stepped past Selvig into the room, hand extended. "I'm Pepper Potts, hi."

The Asgargian extended her hand and gently gripped Pepper's. "Stark gave me a shirt of yours, I hope that's okay."

"I'm sure that if I nearly died in your house that you would give me one of your shirts."

Ava smiled. The woman returned the gesture.

"Do you need anything?"

The blonde shook her head. "I'm fine, thank you."

Pepper hesitated. "Will…Loki…"

"He wont, no."

"But then you didn't think he would do any of this, did you?" Miss Potts mentioned off subtly before stopping herself. "I am so sorry; I didn't mean to say that out loud."

"I do not think you are the sort of person to let their thoughts slip out." Ava met the woman's eye. "But it has been a long day." She smiled genuinely.

Pepper nodded. Her phone buzzed brilliantly. "If you need anything just ask."

Ava nodded and watched the woman walk confidently out of the room in shoes that would have made her feel very wobbly indeed.

"I better go check up on your boyfriend." Selvig pointed at the door. "You should probably try to go back to sleep."

The young woman was left alone in silence. She was propped up awkwardly in bed, in a position that would prevent her from moving up when she woke and twisting in her sleep. It was not a restful condition to be in. Every sentence made her feel as if she had just spoken for a whole minute without taking a breath. And then breathing hurt.

They were all so fragile.

Ava saw her armour on the chair by the door and wondered at the hole in it. Of all the Avengers she was the only one seriously hurt. But she wasn't an Avenger. No one had been on her side, not even Loki.

The young woman ran her finger over the ring that still adorned her hand. She could just take it off. Just lose it in this earthly world. Sometimes you had to give up on relationships because they hurt more than they loved. There had been so much love, and there was still, but it was drowning in its own blood.

Ava closed her eyes and gently held her wound as if it would ease the pain to have her hand there. No. It was a comfort and that was all.

The young woman looked up at the ceiling and thought of home, of the clear waters and the high cliffs, of the fresh air, and new arts. Asgard was a beautiful place. But if Loki took her up on her old offer, told her that they should leave together, she could not refuse him. She was so bound to that man that it was terrifying, that it was just as suffocating as a punctured lung.

Maybe she was the one believing that which was not true. Maybe she had become just as lost as Loki in her attempt to find him, maybe she had become just as blind to the truth.

If that was the case then it meant one thing; there were other senses left and until there were none she would go on scrambling in the darkness. She had made a promise. It made her angry because she didn't know if he was ever going to keep his word to her.

The woman shifted in her discomfort and carefully sat up. With her hand still over her hurt side Ava managed to stand, her bare feet feeling raw and overused against the plush carpet. She eased herself toward the door and down the hallway. She had an urge to see the city, to see the damage, to see Loki.

The broken glass had been cleaned up by JARVIS and the wind that got through the destroyed windows was cold. But out there, in the world beyond, the city still glowed. It doesn't matter how ugly a city is by day, at night its always beautiful. The lights that make the stars fade, that are full of artificial dreams…that were better than the horrors.

The smell of smoke still wafted up along with the scent of rubble and dust and destruction. But the city…still looked like a city. It was still full of people and their hopes and lives and routines. It would take a while to clean up, it would find new fears and new judgements, but it went on. And it continued to glow.

"What are you doing up?" Loki's voice drifted over from the sofa. He rose and crossed the room to Ava. His arms were carefully hovering against her, trying to support her and trying not to hurt her all at the same time. "You should be in bed."

"If this were Asgard my bed would have already been given to another patient."

"This is not Asgard."

"No. Its not." Ava felt the cold clumsiness of the chain that hung between Loki's wrists. "I don't need you to coddle me, I am not a child." She stepped away from him carefully.

The man watched her part her lips to catch her breath as she very hesitantly lowered herself down onto a chair. "I did not mean to…"

"But you did." Ava glanced down at her side as if she would be able to see the pain. She looked back up at him. "You meant every bit of it."

"I never wanted you to get hurt."

"Then why have you been hurting me ever since you found out your true parentage?" Ava spoke slowly.

The man was taken aback. He held his hands close as if the chain was much shorter than it actually was. He had almost full movement of his arms but the concept was there – he was no ally.

"What if I had died?" The young woman spoke as evenly as she could. "What would you have done?"

"You did not die."

"Face the idea, Loki. What if I had died?"

He looked out the window for a moment. "I would…" He frowned "I would not have forgiven myself." His eyes went back to hers. "And I would have regretted it all."

"You do not regret it?"

"Not yet."

"Then there is definitely more to this than you are letting on." Ava tucked a hair behind her ear. "Loki…no one on the Avengers team has been able to give me a good reason to stay with you. Not even I can think of one."

The man clenched his jaw.

"You've given me so many reasons to go." Ava felt her heart in her throat. "So many. And so very few to stay."

"What are you saying?" Loki sat carefully beside her and covered her free hand with his. He searched her face. "I know I have made mistakes and done things to you that I will always regret but…"

"How can you hang onto me when you know that my staying with you can only lead to more destruction and hurt? If you really loved me you would let me go."

"I am not that brave."

Ava smiled sadly. "Neither am I."

"Maybe you need to be."

"Loki" she was wheezing a bit now "Loki, now that I am here, that I have found you again, I find the path back gone. I find myself in the darkness too. You did not keep your word, but did tell you that I would get you home. I also said I might not make it back with you and that was very nearly the case, and might still be. "

"You will get to Asgard."

"That is just the beginning of the next chapter."

Loki ran his fingers along her hair, from the temple, down behind her ear, and into the curve of her neck. "I will do better."

"Don't do it for me." Ava took his hand away. "I cannot love a man who does not exist. You are disappearing, Loki. Do not vanish from me, not again." She glanced away briefly and paused to get her breath back. "When we get back you're going to go to prison. You are going to be tried as a war criminal I do not think I'll be able to stop that."

Loki knew this. He wasn't afraid of it. He was so calm about it that it unnerved Ava. He was so easy about his judgement. He wanted to apologise to her for what he had done because it had hurt her, but looking back, looking forward…she probably wouldn't have been able to change anything. He Not with the coldness and anger in his heart, not with the plot still twisting and stirring in his gut. It hurt and it tortured him, but by that time he was used to the feeling. Most of it. The love intermingled with it all stung brutally. They could leave together, be alone forever, have beautiful children and live quiet lives.

Loki kissed her gently, his face not hiding the torment that ran through him. Ava kissed him back before drawing away. She had grown pale and her pain level had increased through her side. She needed to go back to bed. Go back to rest.

It had been too much too soon. All of it had been. It couldn't have happened any other way.

0.0.0

Plans had to be made for the Asgardian's. They had to go back to their world and they had to take the Tesseract with them. Humans were not yet ready to handle something of its power. No one was ready for it.

Selvig had worked tirelessly with Stark and Banner to find an appropriate harness for the Cube. They wanted it gone, that much was apparent. All the studies on the thing, all the effort put into making it work for humanity – it wasn't worth it. It couldn't be worth it. Not while there were men like Loki around. Not while there were men worse than him in existence.

They had decided to send the Asgardian's away in an open space, somewhere that the power of the Tesseract wasn't constrained within. They picked a beautiful park, gorgeous and proof that humans could live in large cities and still have grassy open spaces. Proof that they could find the balance that existed in Asgard.

Ava had regained most of her colour but still grew very weary very fast. She sat in the back of a vehicle driven by Barton and directed by Natasha.

"Are you going to be okay through the…trip." The redhead turned in her seat to watch the girl.

"It should be fine. I've done it before."

"Not with the Tesseract."

"Not yet." Ava smiled.

Natasha shifted. "So what's going to happen when you get home?"

The blonde fetched her bow from the seat beside her and ran her fingers over its patterns. "I'll be in a lot of trouble but I'll only get yelled at after I've been to the healing rooms."

"And Loki?"

"Will…go to prison."

"Good." Barton said flatly. "For life?"

Ava ran her thumb over her fingernails. "I don't know."

"I quite like that Thor put a gag on the guy." The archer continued. "Wish he'd done it sooner."

"Clint." Natasha said sharply. "I'm sorry, Ava."

"Its okay." It had been very hard for the blonde to see Loki restricted as he was. He needed his words, he spoke and the emotions played on his face so honestly. Now he had no speech. Now he was not a man who was able to defend himself or express his verbal opinion. He was a prisoner. He was not allowed that freedom anymore. Ava had refused to be present when the gag had been put on and she found it too hard to travel with him. Thor rode with his brother and seemed to feel just as awful about it as Ava did. It was worse for him though, the god of thunder would have to sit by his father and past judgement on his own brother.

The girl felt the car slow. Everyone got out and no one said anything. Thor was leading his brother to the point where they would leave from. He met Ava's eye as she climbed out of the car.

They were going home but it didn't feel like it. None of the happy relief was there. None of the relaxed comfort.

Loki was watching the floor. He didn't want her to see him as he was. He could see Natasha speaking in a whisper to Barton, could see the archer smiling. They were alone now and they could make the jokes they wanted to about their enemy. This was more embarrassing than losing. This was worse than having to give up power.

Ava put a warm hand on Loki's arm as she met them. He looked into her eyes and saw that she would hold his hand wherever she could.

The blonde had her old armour on. Stark had repaired it for her and stretched it out a few millimetres so she could get home more comfortably. Underneath the clothes she was wrapped up in bandages and padding and aching consistently.

Thor held the Tesseract out to his brother. There was no grand count down, only the brief process of leaving. Loki took the handle that attached to the protective casing the Cube was in.

The god of thunder held his hand out for Ava and she stepped up to him. Thor wrapped his arm around her without thinking and got a pained hiss in response. He apologised quietly and let her twist into a position that would be the least uncomfortable.

Loki was locked onto his brother. Ava was trying not to anticipate the darkness on the other side of the bridge they were about to open. She took a deep, shaky breath. It was going to be a lonely next chapter. Lonely and cold and dark and she had no idea if she could keep looking for Loki. All of her instincts just screamed at her to go back the way she had come, even if she had to go back empty handed. If that happened at least she would be alive, but never again would she be whole. Loki had taken a part of Ava and he would never give it back; not that she would ever ask.

The young woman looked at the team members. At Barton and Natasha who behaved like an old married couple, at Stark standing coolly by, at Rodgers who still seemed taken aback by the sounds of the 21st century, and at Banner who would always be awkward and fidgety and completely in control.

The blonde nodded carefully at the Doctor and mouthed 'thank you' to him. He had saved her and she was eternally grateful. She hadn't been able to give him much but she had asked that he keep a few pieces of the metal he had pulled from her. They would remind him that he wasn't a monster, that he had once saved a life. Ava wanted him to know that. Wanted him to have that hope.

She wanted Loki to have that hope. Maybe she was the little collection of metal for him. Maybe she was that reminder.

Thor nodded to the Avengers, to his comrades. He was the only Asgardian who did not stand alone in that moment.

The man twisted the handle on his side of the container and for a moment nothing happened, then the whole world was filled with a burning blue. Ava felt her feet lift the ground and watched the earth suddenly appear in her vision; the planet floating below them as they shot through the universe.

Nothing made you feel smaller than travel. Nothing made you feel more like travelling more. But this wasn't about travel. Ava had found Loki and was bringing him back. She had no plan after that. No idea what would happen next. It was terrifying. Part of the young woman had wanted everything to calm down after it all, but all of her knew that would never happen; that she was going to be exhausted, that she would have to keep stumbling onward. No, this was not about travel. This was about going home to a place that would probably no longer feel homey. It was about going into a world of uncertainly.

* * *

_I am sorry that this chapter took so long. I had a lot of personal stuff going on and between it all barely had time to write. But its here now and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.  
This will be the last full length chapter for this story. I hope to write another for THOR 2 but that's going to take some time as the movie only comes out this time next year. Some lovely readers have suggested that in that time I should write a few shorts from both stories. What do the rest of you think?  
I hope you're all well. Please be aware that all the Avengers lines and scenes belong to MARVEL and I take no credit for them._

Blessings,  
P. 


	15. Epilouge

**Epilogue**

* * *

There is something about the absolute enormity of the universe that makes you feel very, very small. Its beauty, however, makes you feel something else entirely; thankful, insignificant, awed…there is something about it all that inspires all emotions. That makes you feel warmly happy and sad at the same time. That makes you look at your whole life and take a long, deep, slow breath. And that's just when you're laying on your back looking at the stars. Flying through the universe toward another world toward your home, through that gap of dark and light between insignificance and enormity, makes you really breathless.

Ava felt Thor clutching onto her, wedging her behind him with his arm that held the Tesseract guarding her in front. The air drew the young woman's hair back off her face and ever in the distance a light grew. It was like watching the sun come up over the sea. Asgard waited for them. It opened its arms to them. Asgard and all its beauty, Asgard and all its pain. They were not strong anymore, they were only brave. They were eternal and ephemeral all at once. Forever fleeting.

Ava glanced at Loki and saw his eyes locked on the world as they drew closer. She watched as the light hit his face and filled the shadows around his face. He turned his head to see her watching him and looked as if perhaps he would cry. But he didn't.

Ava stretched her arm out out, fighting against the pain in her side, and grabbed his hand. Her fingers were cool and she was smiling at him. Smiling for the courage they would both need. He seemed to smile back, his eyes telling that honest story they had told when they met. The young woman squeezed his hand before turning her face back toward the light.

The brightness grew painfully. It was like flying into an explosion. The Tesseract hummed constantly and the wind picked up as they neared the realm eternal. They were enveloped by it all. Taken in. Drawn close. Brought from their space of constant light and dark, of all shapes and sizes and colours, and thrown home. Thrown back into the blind struggle.

Right back into the everlasting darkness and the path back home.


	16. Message from the Author

**Author's Note  
**

* * *

Hello Readers,

Thank you all so much for following and supporting this story - I appreciate your encouragement and constructive criticism very much.  
To answer the question I get asked the most - I do indeed have plans to continue this story into 'Thor: The Dark World'. You will have to wait until this time next year though. In the meantime it has been suggested to me that I write 'flashbacks' or 'fillers' - shorts that fit into the pre-existing stories. If you would like for me to do that (or not) let me know.  
It has been very sad to end this story, especially since it will be such a long time until the next one comes out. I do have to say that you have all been amazing at reading and reviewing and being present every step of the way. The support for this story is phenomenal and I couldnt thank you all enough for giving me the encouragement to continue writing.

I do have a tumblr for those who want to see what is inspiring me (and what I hope could inspire you). Feel free to ask me anything there, even as an anon. The link there is on my profile page.

I hope this message finds you all well. Keep reading, keep writing.  
Blessings,  
P.


	17. Drabbles

Hello Dear Readers,

As promised I have written a few drabbles for Loki and Ava. You can find them in their own story titled "As Promised" on my profile page.

They will will fit into either the plot of The Arms of The Ocean or Into the Dark and if you want I can do a question and answer chapter - feel free to leave your Q's here or on my tumblr (peterpauper dot tumblr dot com).  
Thank you very much for being there throughout Loki and Ava's stories. You are a lovely set of readers and your constructive criticism and reviews and support mean more than I can say. You're all wonderful and I hope you enjoy the drabbles.

Blessings,

P.


	18. A Tumblr

**Ava Sijur**

* * *

Ava has her own blog! It is on tumblr and the URL is _ ava-sijur _(dot tumblr dot com)  
You can now ask her things on that blog if you want. You can do it anonymously without an account if you prefer (though I will not respond to hate, only constructive criticism). I know a lot of you might RP on tumblr and you can come and do some ask-box RP or submit style RP if you want.  
Its really for fun and you can interact with Ava from any point on her timeline; before Loki, before Loki's fall, after The Avengers - its up to you. I want to provide you readers with the opportunity to interact with the character while we wait for the next movie.

Hope to see you all soon.  
P.


End file.
